The Raven's Tale
by BloodWineVampiress
Summary: A strange woman enters Tifa's bar and, under some duress, begins to tell her story. Complete.
1. Prologue

_A woman entered the the 7th Heaven bar. She might once have been tall and strong but she stood stooped and bent. Everything about her attested to her fragility. Her clothes, which were meant for the cold months of the year despite the fact that it was summer. Her dark glasses, worn inside the dark building. The way she trembled with every small, shuffling step she took. _

"_Woah, woah, woah!" Yuffie Kisargi cried, grabbing onto the woman's elbow and dragging her almost bodily across the building to a chair. "What do you think you're doing, Grandma?" _

_The woman carefully readjusted the scarf so that it covered more of her face without saying any thing. _

"_I SAID, GRANDMA WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" Yuffie said louder, wondering if the woman had not heard her the first time she'd spoken. She thought vaguely that the woman would have been completely helpless if not for her. _

"_Yes, yes, I heard you, child," the woman said. Her voice did not have the harsh quality of an older person's but it did sound tired; tired and entirely out of hope. She rubbed her eyes behind the glasses. "There is no reason to shout." _

"_Oh," Yuffie said, rather put out. "So... What did you think you were doing?"_

"_Going to get a drink," the woman replied blatantly. "I may be dying but that's no reason to deny me that, now is there?" _

_Yuffie swallowed hard. "Well, uhm, no. I guess... But the bar isn't open yet."_

"_Oh? I suppose not. I'm sorry for bothering you." The woman rose to leave._

"_Don't go, Grandma!" Yuffie said, standing as well. _

"_Why not?" The woman turned to look at Yuffie but there was no visible expression; the face was hidden behind scarf and glasses. _

"_Well... I mean, you don't look so well. Are you sure you'll be all right?" Yuffie asked. _

"_You want me to stay so you won't feel guilty about sending me out to die?" the woman asked. _

"_That sounds awful!" Yuffie exclaimed. The woman shrugged._

"_There are many things in this world which are awful," the woman replied. "Yet we put up with them for a long time before anyone has the sense to do anything about them. I'm not offended." She sat down and took off her gloves. _

_The hands beneath were not wrinkled or withered, but they were scarred horribly. _

"_Wow, what happened to you?" Yuffie asked in quiet surprise._

"_Equal years spent working for ShinRa Corps and running from them," the woman replied without expression._

"_Really?" Yuffie was incredulous._

"_It's not so uncommon, is it?" the woman asked in response._

"_How did that happen?" Yuffie wanted to know._

"_It's a long story," the woman told her._

"_It's a long time 'til the 7th Heaven opens," Yuffie replied, not quite knowing where that retort had come from._

"_Which reminds me," the woman said. "Why was the door open if the bar is not open."_

"_Don't answer her question," Shelke Rui said. She'd been standing behind the woman for a few moments but hadn't been noticed. "She's trying to misdirect you." _

"_Hello," the woman said, unsurprised, without looking at Shelke. _

"_I'd like to hear you're story as well," Shelke said, pulling up a chair._

_Faced with two young women wishing to listen to the story, the woman felt she could not deny them and so she shrugged._

"_Very well then, but let me tell it in my own manner," she told them._


	2. The City

The city in which I was born had a history that went back into antiquity. No one knows quite for sure when it stopped being a little savage village and became the flourishing metropolis that it was by the time of my birth, but all know that it did so without the aid of any outside source.

The people of that city were, by nature, suspicious of strangers. They were very protective of their homes and they kept up great security forces. They fended off every visitor they had the slightest reason to mistrust.

While most other places were giving in to the power of a newly formed ShinRa Inc, that city fought them off. They slaughtered every person ShinRa sent to negotiate with them. They said they wanted nothing to do with the power ShinRa offered them. There was no wondering about ethics, they simply didn't want anyone else with a hand in their city.

It became a place for ShinRa employees to go to escape from their work. They were allowed in at the beginning but, as the years passed, they were also denied access. The few that arrived first remained.

Frustrated with the lack of reception from the city, ShinRa began to work without the permission of it. They began to build an airport. The only place they could get in was the slums, and so a beautiful new building arose, to the horror of the residents, amongst the decaying streets of the poor. This was possible as the slums were not located at the center of the city but on the southern boarder.

This is the city in which I was raised.

I was the daughter of a ShinRa businessman and his wife, a third rate scientist. I was their third child and the only girl.

I received a good education even if I did not make good use of it. I had a short romance early on in life and left the city before I was twenty to pursue a career with ShinRa as my parents had before me.


	3. Interruption

_Two pairs of eyes watched the woman with both curiosity and skepticism. A place like what had been described should have been famous. It wasn't. Despite the fact that the woman had mentioned no name, the two were sure they would have recognized the place simply by the oddity of the airport and how it was built._

_ The woman watched them from behind her sunglasses patiently. Her hands moved occasionally, drawing attention to them and the fact that they were so scarred. Mostly, she sat without movement besides the scarf from behind which she spoke._

_ "That's not possible," Shelke finally said, breaking the silence._

_ "Hm?" There was amusement in that single syllable. The woman's head turned toward Shelke and she tilted it to the side._

_ "Yeah," Yuffie added. "If there was a city like that, why doesn't anyone know about it?" The woman looked at her._

_ "If you do not wish me to continue..." The woman stood._

_ "No, no, no, no!" Yuffie cried, waving her hands. "I didn't mean that. You can keep going." _

_ The woman nodded and sat down._

_ "Now where was I?" she asked. _

_ "I think you were going to talk about your job," Yuffie offered, eager to get on the woman's good side._

_ "I think I was going to backtrack and tell you about my romance," the woman said, almost as though simply to be contradictory._

_ "Huh?" Yuffie asked._

_ "It will be important later, I think," the woman said. "Now shush."_


	4. Romance

I suppose you think I'm going to describe the first time I met this romantic interest of mine. I won't. I don't remember it; I was only an infant. I'd known him casually for all my life. I didn't get close to him though, because his family had a reputation for being a little on the crazy side.

His father was a scientist who, unlike my own mother, was not a two-bit hack. His mother was long dead and his stepmother wasn't exactly a bundle of joy. For the most part, I think, Vincent fended for himself. That was his name, Vincent.

I first really started to pay attention to Vincent after I met him in the park. I'd been stalling before going home after school because I did not want to deal with my crazy mother, brooding oldest brother, and controlling middle brother. (My father was on a business trip.) I'd lost track of time.

The daylight was quickly failing and I was on the wrong side of the city. There was nowhere for me to turn. If I left, I would be prey to the homeless of the slums, if I stayed who knew what sort of deranged people would find me. I paced about, frightened and wondering what to do.

When I saw Vincent, I thought he was a predator of some sort. I backed up slowly until my back was to a tree. Just as I thought I was going to be attacked, I recognized it as Vincent. It was such a relief to see someone I knew; I could have hugged him. Unfortunately, Vincent wasn't the sort of person you hugged.

Instead, I asked him what he was doing there. Vincent didn't reply; he wasn't talkative. He only stared at me with those red eyes he had. I am not exaggerating there, his eyes were downright crimson. After a few moments he offered to take me home.

From that day forward we spent more and more time together. It started out with just walking me home to prevent a repeat of the night before. Then we began to meet each other on days we did not have classes. It became an unspoken agreement that we were a couple.

We weren't overly affectionate, but we looked out for each other. It got to the point where we spent nearly every waking moment together. Neither of us had an abundance of friends. There was nothing to distract us, so to speak. We gave each other a social life and a love life. Two birds, one stone, I guess.

It was with Vincent that I made my first trip to the ShinRa airport. It was a place that was off limits for me to go, but not for him. I had less compunctions against breaking rules than Vincent did, so as long as he was not barred from doing something, it was as if I wasn't either.

I loved to watch the airships land and take off. I found them absolutely beautiful and I swore to myself that one day I would get on one of those airships and sail far, far away...with Vincent, of course.

The thought of being separated from Vincent was the furthest thing from my mind in those days. Every thought I had for the future included him. I couldn't imagine the relationship ending. If asked to imagine my life as an old woman I would have described living in a house in the country with Vincent and having our little red-eyed grandchildren running about in the yard.

I was a romantic and I was naïve. I had no idea that my life was about to change drastically.


	5. A Broken Heart

_The two listeners glanced at each other. Each wanted to know if the other understood the story the way she had. Each had come to the same conclusion. __**It sure sounds like our Vincent, doesn't it? **__Vincent Valentine wasn't exactly open about his past and, while there were things they __**did **__know, there were certainly things that were omitted. It was possible that the woman was telling the truth, but that was only if one believed the story about the city which she had not yet properly explained. Still, neither spoke, they didn't want to scare her off. Shelke, because she was interested. Yuffie, because she didn't want the woman to go out and die; she was also interested but that was secondary._

"I want to join the Turks." Those were the words that snapped me out of my rose-coloured paradise.

Vincent and I had been sitting in the shade of the most ancient tree that existed in the park. I was laying in the grass, half-drunk with the security of my imagined future. When I heard those words I sat up on instinct. I stared at Vincent but was far too shocked to speak.

"I am going to join the Turks," Vincent amended when he saw I wasn't going to speak. I thought my bones had turned to jelly. I didn't fall over but my arm, which had been supporting me, began to shake violently.

"Why?" I finally asked him.

The Turks were not well liked in the city where we lived. Many people didn't even like ShinRa. I personally had no problem with ShinRa, after that was where the money for our food came from. I didn't even have a bone to pick with the Turks, but only as long as I had nothing to do with them.

In the Turks defense, I wasn't very well informed. What I had been told was that they were a group of heartless bastards with no moral code. They would follow any order, regardless of how evil the order might be.

At the time I couldn't see ShinRa doing anything particularly evil, but the idea of someone would do something evil just because they were told to was worse, in my mind, than the person who thought up the evil deed in the first place.

Vincent's answer to my question was simple, "Because that's what I want to do with my life."

I was nearly in hysterics over that. Working anywhere had its risks, but a group like the Turks was entirely too much. They faced death every day, whether they were on the giving or receiving end of it. I couldn't take the thought of that sort of life for Vincent.

I stood and wobbled to the point where I nearly fell over. "I need to go home." Vincent stood as well.

"I've upset you," Vincent replied. That wasn't it anymore, though. I had begun to feel physically ill. It was past the point of being upset. I shook my head.

"No, but I need to go home."

The next morning I woke with a dangerously high fever. I spent the next two weeks fading in and out of consciousness. When I was awake I vomited my stomach out, when I was asleep I had nightmares. There was more than one occasion I heard the doctor outside my door saying to my family, "Watch over her tonight, I am worried she won't make it."

I made a miraculous recovery just in time to see Vincent off. He was going to Midgar to become a Turk.

I wish I could say that was the last time I saw him. It would be a beautifully sad ending to my youthful romance, but I can't say that. I'm too tired to lie anymore.


	6. Waitress

I alienated myself from the rest of the world for almost a week after Vincent left. The first place I went after I left the house again was the airport in the slums. After wandering around for a while I discovered a small establishment where the travelers would go to get food and pass the time while they were in town as the rest of the city would not welcome them.

I began to frequent the place as often as I could get out there. It wasn't a place my parents would have liked to see me in. It was filled with airmen and women of all backgrounds. There were a few I even thought to be pirates, although I was told they all worked for ShinRa. It was a rough sort of place simply because of the nature of those who went there.

Eventually, one of the waitresses took interest in speaking with me because I was the place's only real regular. It wasn't long after that when I was offered a job. I took it, of course, because I needed anything and everything to keep my mind off my ruined picture of the future.

Working there I began to recognize the people whose airships came by often. It wasn't long before there was a group of airmen whom I knew by name. I was a favourite of theirs because I was young and pretty back then. I innocently bantered back and forth with them and I learned a lot about airships and the societies that thrived on them.

It was the sort of life that I wanted but knew in my head I shouldn't want. Still, I continued to learn.

I began to speak their language, which was a crude version of my own. I learned to fix their ships and if a mechanic was needed I sometimes offered. I learned about the places they'd been and the places they were going to. I kept up with each sailor's travels and knew precisely what to ask about each time they came in.

Not all the visitors to the place were airsailors. Airship travel was a dying thing. There were fewer and fewer people who got on airships just to travel, especially amongst ShinRa. Always moving forward, ShinRa was. There were more cargo trips and less people on board. Even so, there were a handful of other ShinRa people who showed up. Most took one look at the place and turned around to find somewhere nicer to go. Some stayed a while. I had gotten used to it and learned to take it all in stride.

That was why, almost a year after I'd begun working there, I did not pay any special attention to the two Turks who walked in.

"So, Sweets, what do you think I can do about that?" a young on-board mechanic was asking me. I frowned and drew a diagram on my pad of paper. I frowned as I ripped the sheet off and handed it to him.

"That's not an easy fix," I told him. "You'll be down for at least three days. I'd go talk to my captain about it if I were you." The airshipman turned pale, nodded, and rushed out to get permission to fix the problem from his captain.

I scanned the room ad saw that the Turks had set their menus down. I took it as a sign that they were ready to order and began to walk toward them. I paused a little way away to eavesdrop on their conversation. I never knew how to handle Turks, but knowing how they talked with each other helped me out a little.

"I...don't know about this," one said. I could tell he was pretty green because he didn't have the confidence of the others I'd seen. "It doesn't seem like a very reputable place."

"Man up," the other said. He was young too, but he was the sort born confident. "I am not going back to that airship until I absolutely have to. Those sailors are pests and I don't want to spend any more time in their presence than I am forced to."

"Yeah..." the first agreed reluctantly.

"Hi, boys," I said cheerfully, stepping up to their table. "What can I get for you?"

"A few more minutes, please," the second said. The words were insulting but the tone was. I turned on my heel, making a mental note to have dishwater put in his drink.

I was only a few steps away when I heard my name pronounced behind me. I stopped dead in my tracks. No one used my real name at work. It was generally a silly pet name or simply "hey you". I turned back around and stared at the first Turk because he was the one who had spoken. He stared back with his bright red eyes.

"What are you doing here?" Vincent asked me. I couldn't speak.

"Are you bothering my favourite waitress?" a sailor behind me asked. "Because if you are, I'll beat you so hard even your parents won't recognize the result, Turk or not." Audrey spat on the floor. He was one of the characters I'd taken for a pirate. He placed his hands on my shoulders. "So sweetheart, are they botherin' you?" I shook my head.

"No."

"Hmph," Audrey said. "Looks like you've got a friend, Turkey."

"I work here, Vincent," I said, feeling safe with the knowledge that Audrey wasn't happy about being denied a fight and that he'd jump to my rescue the moment I asked.

"Why?" I could have said a billion different things. There were so many different reasons, but I decided to use none of them.

"Because it's what I want to do with my life," I said. I flung Vincent's own words of a year ago back at him and I saw him flinch. I knew it was over then, our relationship. It had been over from the minute Vincent left for Midgar.

I turned away from the Turks then and went to talk with Audrey. It wasn't good for business that he was threatening the patrons, Turks or not.


	7. Tifa

_ There was the sound of footsteps on the stairs and the woman stopped speaking. The three turned to see Tifa Lockhart standing on the bottom step, looking at them._

_ "Oh, there you guys are," she said. "Who's this?" The woman stood._

_ "I'm Claudie Thorne, ma'am," she told Tifa with quite respect. _

_ "He-ey!" Yuffie said, standing as well. "Why didn't you tell us that?" _

_ "You never asked," Claudie replied. Yuffie stepped back, knocking into her chair. _

_ "It's true," Shelke said while Yuffie muttered something about it not being fair. _

_ "Well, what are you doing here, Mrs. uhm Thorne?" Tifa asked, frowning. There was nothing familiar about Claudie Thorne that would indicate a reason for her being in the closed bar._

_ "An honest mistake," Claudie said. "These two convinced me to tell them some things about myself before I leave." _

_ "Ooh! Ooh!" Yuffie said excitedly. "She knows Vincent!" _

_ "Really?" Tifa asked._

_ "I..." Claudie said quietly. "I don't know what you're talking about." She looked at Yuffie sharply. "Don't jump to conclusions so quickly. I haven't finished the story yet. If you must know, that Vincent died a long time ago." _

_ Yuffie sat down with a thud, her eyes wide and penitent. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't know." _

_ "What's going on?" Tifa asked. _

_ "Well, this lady, Mrs. Thorne or whatever," Yuffie said, "came into the bar, but it's closed. Anyway, she didn't look so good, so I made her sit down. She looked like she was gonna fall over or something. I asked her what she was doin' and she said something about a drink and dying. Well, I told her we were closed and she was gonna leave but, I mean, she really doesn't look good. So I told her not to go. Then we started talking and it turns out she used to work for ShinRa but not anymore. So I wanted to know what happened and Shelke came and sat here, too. Then she started talking about a city that doesn't exist and a guy named Vincent with red eyes."_

_ "Slow down, Yuffie," Tifa said. "I can't understand you." _

_ "If you're going to listen," Claudie said listlessly. "You may as well sit down." Tifa hesitated, then sat next to Claudie._

_ "Well, just for a little while, I guess," she said. _


	8. Job Offer

"You don't really want to be a waitress forever, do you?" Audrey asked me. It had been about a month since the incident with the Turks and his airship had come back on its usual rounds. I smiled and let out a small contemptuous laugh.

"Of course not." Audrey seemed relieved. He grinned as he always did again.

"Good... But tell me, Sweetmeat, why did you tell the Turkey that?"

"That's personal and you still haven't ordered yet." He handed me his menu and ordered his usual. I smiled and went to put the order in.

Audrey was one of the few mysteries in the place. No one knew what his real name was, everyone simply called him Audrey or Aude for short. According to some of his shipmates he wasn't the sort of person one would expect for an airshipman. He had skills that could have gotten him a much better job, though no one was specific on what sort of job it would be. Apparently, he became angry whenever anyone mentioned it. He was young, and a flirt, and going places someday if he could keep his head out of the clouds.

"You know what," he said to me when I came back with his drink. "You know a lot about airships and mechanics. If you applied, I'm sure ShinRa wouldn't turn you down for a post on one of their ships... I mean, if you want it."

I'd never been told that before. I'd never been told that before. All the female airship sailors spoke of what a hard life it was and how difficult it was to get along in a career line that was made for men. They all told me that I wasn't the sort of person cut out for such a life. Still, they all seemed dedicated to their careers.

"But... How can I get to Midgar? That's where I'd have to go, isn't it? I don't have the money for train fare. It isn't like my family is going to cough up the gil. They're all disappointed in me as it is," I said. The idea sounded more hopeless the more I thought about it. Maybe in a few years I could save up the money to go, but it wouldn't be easy.

"Honey, honey, honey," Audrey clicked his tongue at me. "Don't you know you have a platoon of airshipmen who would give their eye to have a chance at serving with you? You don't need gil to get to Midgar. You should know better than anyone that an airship captain has full authority to take whomever they want onto their airship, free of charge, as long as it doesn't interrupt their duties. Just talk to one of them."

I told Audrey I'd sleep on it. A few days later I made arrangements with one of the captains to get to Midgar, it was their next stop so it wouldn't take long.


	9. Midgar

_ "Why are you telling us all this?" Shelke asked suddenly. "You don't even know us."_

_ Claudie rubbed her eyes behind the dark glasses. "I don't have much time left, I think. It doesn't matter who knows anymore. No one has any power to hurt me anymore. So, why not?" _

_ Tifa swallowed hard and Yuffie couldn't look at Claudie for a moment. They didn't like to think of a person in a position like that. It was a heartbreaking idea. Shelke was unaffected. _

_ "Don't worry, you two," Claudie addressed Tifa and Yuffie. "I'm used to the idea. It doesn't bother me anymore. The only thing is... Never mind." _

I was completely awed by Midgar when I arrived. There is no city on earth like Midgar in my opinion, and there never will be.

I couldn't help but walk around staring at everything in appreciation for the magnificence I saw there. I ran into people who cursed at me and told me to watch where I was going. I didn't pay any attention until I heard chuckling behind me.

"Your first time in Midgar?" a male voice asked. Instinctively I read for the small knife on my belt. I'd been given it to protect myself with, but I didn't know how to use it. In a moment of panic I didn't think it mattered, as long as I could stab my attacker and run away.

It was a Turk. I swore under my breath. Couldn't I get away from them? There couldn't be many, they were the elite, right? I must simply have rotten luck. It turned out to not only be a Turk but it was the one who had been with Vincent before.

"You're the waitress girl," he said, frowning. "Never thought I'd see you here. What was your name again?"

"I don't have to tell you," I spat. The Turk shrugged as if he was used to reactions like that and, more importantly, didn't care.

"Well, I'm Veld," he said. "I'll tell Vince..."

"No," I told him firmly. "I need to find where the ShinRa headquarters are."

"Well..." Veld said reluctantly. "I don't know who you've been talking to, but they lied. There aren't any headquarters here. There's a building here. I could take you to it." I couldn't believe I'd been so easily duped. I was in such a state of shock that I followed Veld without a word of protest.

Veld was right, the building was no headquarters. It was an office building and a nice one at that, but not what you'd expect from the company that was quickly gaining a reputation for being all-powerful.

I quietly thanked Veld, completely humbled by this new revelation and, on entering the building, spoke with the receptionist about an interview. She told me that I was expected but the look on her face told me that I wasn't what they had been expecting.

The interview was short and I wasn't confident in my chances. I spent the rest of the day walking around what would one day be called the slums of Midgar. Then it was simply Midgar. There was no plate yet and there was no massive ShinRa building. Those things were still almost a decade from coming into being.

Two days later, I was told that I was hired and to report to the airship Blackbird.


	10. Nibelheim

"Who are you?" was the first thing I was asked when I arrived on the Blackbird.

"Claudia Thorne." At least I suppose that's what I said. I don't remember. I probably stuttered it out or something like that. Whatever I said it was acceptable because the gruff old captain grunted.

"You're late, Thorne," he told me. He turned away from me for a moment. "Audrey, show the lass about my fine bird and then see what she knows about self-defense. I'm assigning you to be her teacher for now."

"Your name's Claudia?" Audrey asked me once we were off the bridge. He seemed to find it extremely amusing. "That's one upper class name, you should be having a shopping spree or something, not wasting your time here."

"You're the one who told me to apply," I reminded him. He said something about that being before he found out I had one rich-assed daddy. I didn't reply because we were near a window and I was looking at the most beautiful view I'd ever seen. I still prefer the view from on board an airship to any other.

It wasn't until late that evening when Audrey decided to see how much self-defense I knew. Turned out, none. Audrey apologized quietly as he took me to the infirmary. It was the first and last time he ever apologized for any of his actions.

A few days later, when I was feeling a little better, Audrey took it upon himself to teach me to fight. The only problem was, Audrey didn't like to teach, he preferred to allow people to learn. I became very friendly with the medics after that.

"You should go buy yourself a better weapon," Audrey told me repeatedly (I only had that little knife I'd gotten before being set loose on Midgar for the first time), even giving me some gil to do so. Unfortunately for me, I was finding that in all the new places I went, the only time I knew where I was going was when I was in the air. It didn't help that nobody seemed interested in helping me out. I blamed my new hairstyle.

It was looked down upon by the airshipmen for a sailor to have long hair. It was impractical, too, because you just never knew what it could become caught on. So, very early on, I'd snipped it quite short, which ruined my sweet young girl lost in a strange place act.

I was going through my routine of looking for, but not finding, a weapons shop when I spied them coming down the walk from the ShinRa mansion. Dr. Valentine and another scientist. I'd only met the doctor a few times but he had a severe sort of disposition that had frightened me in my younger days. I briefly thought of ducking down a side street, but before I could act on it he recognized me.

"Claudia Thorne?" he asked, quite uncertain. I didn't blame him, if he didn't look like his son in almost every way, I wouldn't have been sure of who he was either. That he even remembered my name was beyond me.

"Yes, sir," I replied with as much respect as I'd ever given anyone in my life.

"What are you doing around these parts?" he asked me. I tried to speak but found no words coming out. I didn't want him to think badly of me because I was an airwoman. It wasn't a good profession to be in.

"Visiting," I finally choked out. Dr. Valentine accepted it, to my greatest relief. I was honestly terrified of the man, he is the only person I have ever had to admit feeling that way about.

"You are a friend of my son's, correct?" he asked. For a moment I thought it was a difficult question for him to ask, but I banished the thought from my mind.

"Yes," I told him quietly, not bothering to correct him because he was indeed wrong.

"How is the boy?" he asked me.

"I wouldn't know," I replied. "I haven't seen him in a long time."

The man with whom I was speaking was Vincent's father. Dr. Grimoire Valentine. He was an imposing but gentle man and it was the last time I would see him alive. His untimely fate would foreshadow his son's, but nobody knew that yet.


	11. Lucretia

"Dr. Valentine, who is this?" the young scientist with Grimoire asked. She was a beautiful young thing with long light brown hair tied up with a yellow ribbon. She was watching me curiously from slightly behind him.

"I'm Claudia Thorne, but people call me Claudie," I answered for Dr. Valentine. "I grew up not far from his home."

"Oh," she said. "I am Dr. Lucretia Crescent. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure is mine," I said. I heard proper language coming out of my mouth and it no longer sounded normal. I had never consciously stopped talking that way, but it had been a long time since I used a phrase like that. "But... I am afraid I must get going. I have some shopping to attend to."

"Oh..." I was surprised to find that Lucretia looked disappointed. It caught me off guard and I couldn't walk away.

"Dr. Crescent," Grimoire said. "You've been working very hard recently, you deserve a break." He turned to me. "She doesn't get out much. I'm sure you could use some help in your shopping, Claudia? She needs to spend more time with people her own age."

I gaped at him, remembering something Vincent had said once. _"The man doesn't have a kind bone in his body." _Vincent was wrong.

I replied that I could, indeed, use some assistance with my shopping. In a way it was true because I hadn't the slightest idea to begin looking for a weapons shop.

"Have a good day, ladies," Dr. Valentine said and continued on his way. Lucretia Crescent approached me cautiously.

"May I call you Claudie?" she asked quietly.

"Only if I can call you Lucretia," I replied. She laughed and told me I could. I then asked if she knew where a weapons shop was. Her brow furrowed, but she helped me find one without comment.

"Why do you need all these weapons?" she finally asked me as we ate lunch. It was her treat because I'd inadvertently spent all my gil on the weapons. In my defense they were far more expensive than I'd expected them to be.

"Self-defense," I replied between bites of food. "My job requires it."

"Why doesn't your employer provide weapons for you then?" Lucretia asked. I could tell she was perplexed by this thought. She was actually very easy to read. It wasn't terribly surprising since I'd learned that her life had consisted of school and science for as long as she could remember. The closest thing to a crush she'd ever had was her immense respect for Dr. Valentine, which I found slightly disturbing.

Still, I couldn't help but laugh at her suggestion. "We're not soldiers, you know. There's no reason to provide someone with a weapon if their immediate job is not to fight. It's just our prerogative to arm ourselves in case we venture onto unfriendly territory.

"Oh," Lucretia said, awe in her voice. "Do you do that often?"

"Eh," I replied. "Every so often, I guess." She said she couldn't imagine being in danger while working. The idea of even touching a weapon of any sort made her sick with fright, she told me. I pointed out that silverware could be used as weaponry in a dire situation, which may have been a little cruel of me because she dropped it and wouldn't eat another bite.

After that, I never would have suspected that she might want to be my friend. She did. Lucretia was a creature of supreme innocence and constant surprises. I had to admit that it was refreshing to spend time with someone like that.


	12. The Death Of Grimoire

_Tifa and Shelke looked at each other in silent understanding. The Vincent previously mentioned __**was **__the Vincent whom they all knew. Claudie had obviously been mislead. Yuffie had allowed herself to become too intent in the story to actually process those facts and so she remained oblivious. _

I lead a very normal life for a young airsailor after I left Nibelheim. I trained on my own time with the weapons I'd bought. I learned and learned about life in the air and, even after I felt like I knew all there was to know, I learned more.

Eventually, I was able to win a sparring match against Audrey. It was the crowning achievment of that particular period in my life. I couldn't believe I was that good and I let my pride get the better of me. Audrey got back at me.

It wasn't long after that when I received word that another airship captain wanted me on his ship. It was a bittersweet announcement. I didn't want to leave the Blackbird but the opportunity was one I might never receive again if I refused. I accepted the offer and was scheduled to arrive on the Prima in a month. Three weeks of that month would be spent in continued service on the Blackbird, one week would be the first vacation I'd received since I began working for ShinRa not quite a year before.

"Good things happen to me every year," I told Audrey with a laugh as I got off the Blackbird for the last time. "Next year I'll be a captain."

"If you are," he said, "remember me." I promised to do just that and went to visit Lucretia. She was the only non-sailor friend I could boast of and I wanted to see her once in a while.

The visit wasn't exactly a surprise but as I approached her home I began to wonder if she'd forgotten I was coming. The wondering became near certainty when I stood before the door knocking without an answer. Morbid thoughts ran through my mind that perhaps something horrible had happened to her and she was dead.

She looked like something horrible _had _happened when she finally opened the door.

"Oh, Rosie!" she said sniffling. I don't know why she'd begun to call me Rosie, but I didn't mind. It didn't make sense in my mind but if it fit to her... I couldn't argue since I called her Lu. "I'm sorry, I thought it was tomorrow that you were coming."

_Yup_, I thought. _She forgot. _I smiled and entered when she moved away from the enterance.

"No, it was today," I said almost apologetically. "I really hope I'm not intruding. I could go to the inn, you know." Lucretia wouldn't hear of it. She said she'd promised to let me stay and by Gaia I was going to stay.

"What happened to you?" I finally asked her after I'd been forced into putting all of my things away in the dresser provided. Lucretia smiled sadly into the tissue she'd been carrying with her the entire time and hmmed and hawed.

"How well..." she mumbled after a good deal of stalling. "...Dr. Valentine."

"How well do I know him?" I asked trying to guess what she meant. "Not very. Why?"

"...He's dead." I felt all the blood drain from my face. I didn't know what to say, but I gave Lucretia an awkward hug. I wasn't used to giving hugs, they were a rare thing on airships.

"Oh, Lu," I told her. "I'm so sorry. I..." My language skills failed me and I just let her cry into my shoulder.

"It's all my fault," she sobbed. I tried to tell her it couldn't have been, after all being a scientist had it's risks too. She cut me off and recounted the events.

I didn't feel that Lucretia was responsible for Dr. Valentine's death. I didn't know who was but poor weeping Lucretia couldn't have been. There was a vague feeling of blame that settled on some unnameable source.

I didn't know it then but that was the first thing I blamed ShinRa for. I kept telling myself that it wasn't exactly ShinRa that was to blame. It was whoever the hell had told them to start researching Omega and Chaos in the first place. Well, that lead back to ShinRa. I couldn't think of anything ShinRa related as evil, though. Annoying? Yes. Unnecessary? Of course. Something to bitch about? Absolutely. But evil? No.

I spent my entire week of vacation consoling the distraught Dr. Crescent. I don't think I got anywhere. It frustrated me to no end and I spent my nights kicking that damned dresser and having nightmares.

Finally on my last day there, as I was walking out the door to become a member of the Prima's crew I told her something that I think may have gotten through to her. I took the front of her blasted lab coat and shook her by it a good bit first though.

"Look, Lu," I said. "I don't give a rat's ass whose fault it is and I don't think Dr. Valentine does either. Do you see his freaking ghost comin' about here to bitch about what you done? I don't think so. He's kickin' back in the Lifestream havin' a beer or somethin'. Let it drop and give us all the peace that Grimoire's enjoyin' right now." Then I walked out the door.


	13. Paramount Of The Sparring Circle

I was the new girl on the Prima and I got a lot of attention when I first arrived. I was shown about the airship countless times by sailors eager to help the newbie.

The captain of the Prima was far younger than the one on the Blackbird. Only the first streaks of gray were beginning to show themselves in his blond hair and wrinkles were not to be seen on his aristocratic face. He wasn't a tough taskmaster but the sailors were extremely loyal to him and they didn't need someone looming over their shoulders to force them to work.

I was assigned to work under the navigator. The captain said that a pretty face like mine was of far better use up out of the dusky old engine rooms. To this day I'm not sure if it was a joke or not. I tried to be a good pupil, though navigation was not my cup of tea. I think I became proficient at it.

The Prima was a much larger airship than the Blackbird and it was more frequently used to transport people. This was something new for me as well, because the only people the Blackbird transported were the crew and a few people invited on by the captain.

We were forced to wear our uniforms when we had ShinRa personnel on board. Yes, we had uniforms. They were black jackets with starched collars and pants. Underneath we were permitted to wear a white shirt of our choosing as long as it was not visible beneath the jacket.

I discovered that it was a pain to have to work in that and I understood why it was not enforced when there were no passengers. We wore what we wanted to most of the time, though the working conditions created a dress code of their own. Whatever we wore had to be easy to move in and not easily caught on things.

Despite my inhibitions about working with passengers from ShinRa on the Prima, which was fast becoming my home, I worked hard. It became clear that I was admired amongst the crew because of my fighting skills. We'd run into some trouble once and I was the only one to get out without a scratch. After that they set up a sparring club during my off hours so that they could learn to fight from me.

Just over a year after I joined the Prima I was promoted to Lieutenant. The rank was completely unofficial. The captains were the ones to assign rank on their ships and they did not get permission from ShinRa to do so. It didn't bother ShinRa much so they shrugged it off. Who cared what the sailors called themselves? They were the only ones to create captains after all, and that was really what mattered to them.

We picked up a small group of Turks from Midgar sometime around my twenty-second birthday. It was about two years since I'd joined the Prima's crew. I was irritated that I had to spend my birthday with a bunch of hateful Turks on board. I became a bit more aggressive when I was sparring and one sailor got hurt. I promised myself I wouldn't spar again until the Turks were gone.

I was watching the view from a window on one of my breaks when I noticed there was someone behind me. I tried to ignore the person because I wasn't going to let them take away the pleasure of my favourite pass time.

"I never noticed how pretty the view can be," the person behind me said in a half-mocking tone. I turned to see a Turk. I curled my lip and was going to say something insulting but he spoke first. "Oh, Miss Waitress, it's you. I never _did _get your name. You're a... What does that symbol on your jacket mean? I've forgotten."

"Shut it, Turk," I grumbled, vaguely remembering that his name had started with a V. I doubted very much that the Turk was that talkative amongst the other Turks; he was purposely bothering me. I didn't know what I'd done to deserve that, but it was getting on my nerves. I pushed past him and began walking away. To my utter horror, he began to follow me.

"It's Veld," he told me. "And your name?"

"Thorne," I told him, hoping he'd be satisfied and leave me alone.

"Thorne?" he repeated. "I heard there was some sort of club on this airship."

"You're not going to find it," I told him.

"I was just hoping I could use that to pass the time until I can get off this piece of tin," Veld said amicably.

"Watch it," I growled at him. "That's my home you're talking about."

"It's a very nice piece of tin," he said with a laugh. "So, will you show me where it is?"

"Sure, but I don't think they'll let you in," I warned.

"Doesn't matter, watching is fine with me," Veld assured me. I sighed.

"All right then, follow me."

When we arrived there everyone seemed happy to see me. Mathe the young sailor whom I'd injured, walked up to me with a huge grin on his face waving his hand. The wrist was in a brace. I winced.

"Aw, c'mon Lieutenant, I don't hold it against you," he said. "It's all in the nature of fighting."

Of course it was and I was wondering how I managed not to lose my job over that. Veld began to laugh, almost hysterically. Everyone stared.

"Yes," I told them all in a loud voice. "I have a leech with a blue suit attached to my back. I have come under threat of having all the energy drained from my body by said leech to show him our sparring circle...or club, whichever you prefer to call it."

It was at least an hour and a half later when Veld stood. He took off his jacket.

"I think I know how this works," he said. "I challenge Lieutenant Thorne." I stared at him in disbelief while the others stared at me, perhaps wondering what I'd done to get on the Turk's bad side that way. The answer was: nothing more than anyone else, he was just picking on me for some reason.

Anyone on board an airship knew the unspoken code. You must never show a Turk kindness of any sort but should they try to attack, turn tail and flee. Fighting a Turk was widely known as suicide. They _were _the elite after all. I was doomed; the situation did not allow me to back out. The one thought running through my head was: _At least he's not allowed to kill me on the airship._

I stood up, nearly shaking, and took off my own uniform jacket.

"Don't worry," Veld told me. "I'll go easy on you."

"Don't insult me," I replied. "Kill me if you can."

With those words I stepped up to fight a Turk.


	14. Veld

When they finally made us stop fighting both of us were a little bruised and battered but neither was really worse for wear. There was a look of shock spreading across Veld's face was it wasn't a disappointed shock. I heard the cheers of my crew mates all around me. I'd fought a Turk and came closer to winning than any of them could dream of doing.

"You're good, Thorne," Veld said, rubbing his jaw. I'd kicked him there, but he'd moved so the kick didn't really have much power when it hit him. It was probably for the best, I wouldn't want to know what would happen to me if I broke a Turk's jaw. "Very good, actually. You don't have to stay with this lot. There are better jo-" He stopped, I was frowning. For the first time I think I understood what Audrey was feeling when everyone said he was too good to be an airsailor.

"But I...never _had _to," I said slowly, still wrapping my mind around the thought I needed to express. "I wanted to. I could have had any job in the world. I chose..._this _one."

"Well..." Veld said softly, obviously confused. "I never..." He picked up his jacket and walked out the door. I didn't see him for the rest of the flight.

When we landed I watched the Turks go, trying to feel happy that they were gone. I guilt was eating at me for ending the fight the way it had and I wanted a rematch with Veld, just to see who the winner would be. I waited and I watched. My patience paid off because Veld was the last lingering Turk and he stopped before he passed me.

"You are the _strangest_...prettiest girl I've ever met," he told me, frowning. I think it was difficult for him to say that. I didn't know whether to be touched or horrified. He handed me a small piece of paper. "I don't know what good this will do; you seem determined to punished all of us for whatever you think it is that Valentine did to you." He stood there a moment without saying anything before giving me a tight-lipped smile and leaving. I shoved the paper into my pocket and didn't look at it.

That night when I was at the inn, I was taking off my clothes for bed and the paper fell out of the pocket. I'd forgotten all about it. I sat on the bed and opened it up as it had been folded. On it were three things. First was an address for some place in Midgar. Second was a phone number. Third was a small note that told me to visit or write sometime. I started to laugh, but stopped and thought it over.

I was still thinking it over two months later when I got some time off to spend in Midgar and not just some measly two days, either. In fact, I was still thinking it over when I knocked on the door to the house that belonged to the address on the paper.

When Veld opened the door I thought two things instantly. One was that I was making the biggest mistake of my life and the other was that Veld wasn't actually bad looking when he wasn't wearing that condescending air that seemed to come with the Turk uniform.

"Lieutenant...Thorne?" he asked with not a small bit of disbelief. "I didn't think-"

"That I'd come?" I asked. "Well, I like to mix things up a bit. May I come in?" Veld moved aside to allow me in. I looked around a little as Veld lead me to the kitchen but my eyes kept returning to him. I'd never seen him when he wasn't wearing his Turk uniform. I idly decided that I wasn't terribly fond of his choice in civilian clothing. Still, anything was better than having the fact that he was a Turk slapped in my face every time I saw him.

I couldn't think of anything to say once we were sitting at the kitchen table across from each other.

"So...This is where you live?" I asked eventually. Veld was about to answer when an older woman's voice cut through the air.

"Veld? Do you have guests? Who's in the kitchen with you?" The woman who entered the room had lost all her beauty long ago, if she ever had any. She wore a baggy dress that made her look small and frail, but her sharp eyes told me that she was tougher than what you'd first think.

"Who is _this?_" she asked when she saw me. The way she glowered at me made me uncomfortable.

"Mother, this is..."

"Claudia," I said, remembering that Veld didn't know my first name. It was just beginning to set in that I was in the house of a Turk and was introducing myself to said Turk's creepy mother. I wanted to bang my head against something to return the sense to it. I didn't move; I couldn't move.


	15. Potential

It was not a surprise when I learned that Veld did not like his mother. She'd moved in when his father had died a few months back and if it weren't for filial duty he would have thrown her out a long time ago.

As I watched I noticed how inept their interactions were. The conversation was one I added little to. When something was directed my way I said two or three words and they returned to their discussion. I felt like I should leave and yet I couldn't.

I think Veld saw how uncomfortable I was and felt bad, though I can't be sure.

It wasn't long before Veld's mother began attacking me. I was more surprised than I should have been that he defended me. Of course, I couldn't stand for it that I was reduced to being defended by a Turk of all people. I stood, pleased to discover I was a good deal taller than the nasty woman.

"Excuse me," I said in the softly commanding tone I'd attained after being put in charge of other airsailors. "I am right here, and any questions you have about me should be posed to _me_. I am sure I can answer anything you might have to ask to your dissatisfaction."

"Who is your father, girl?" the woman asked me.

"Ellevan Thorne," I replied. The name meant little to those who had never worked in ShinRa and so the woman was unconcerned though Veld threw me an incredulous look. My father was little more than a very well paid pawn, but he did his job in such a way as to never be in a disposable position. This made him somewhat of an inside hero.

"Does he support you?" I winced because I'd seen that question coming a mile off.

"No." It was the only thing I could reply truthfully. Besides, I wasn't exactly looking for the woman's approval, I only hoped my answers would not come back to hurt Veld. It was an odd feeling for me and it left me just a bit off center.

"_No_?That means you _work_?"

"Yes, ma'am," I replied evenly.

"What on earth could a child like you _do_?" I held back a laugh as Veld begged me to lie with his expression.

"I work in sales," I replied, not quite certain as to why I was doing what Veld wanted me to. I suppose it was linked back to that odd protective feeling I was having towards him. I felt like I might forget any more lies. I had to get out of there as quickly as I could before I was coerced into anymore falsehoods. "It's late," I said, looking at Veld. "I've had a long day. I think I'll be going home. Okay, honey?" I gave Veld a kiss on instinct and smiled at his flabbergasted mother before making my way to the door. I was just about there when I heard Veld from the kitchen saying that he'd better walk me home.

"What was that?" he asked me when we were outside.

"Instinct," I replied. "I hope I acted like an absolute animal."

"It could have been worse, but couldn't you think of a better lie about your father? I know my mother didn't know who that was, but still..." I laughed, of all the things he could choose to pick about it was _that_?

"No," I told him. "Because _that _wasn't a lie." Veld stopped in his tracks.

"Ell Thorne? Wow, I never would have thought..."

"Mmhm..." I said, continuing to walk on.

"...And the kiss?" Veld asked.

"Like I told you," I said. "Instinct."

"Are you drunk?" Veld asked, frowning.

"No," I replied. "Sure seems like it though."

"Don't tempt me," Veld said quietly. I don't think I was meant to hear that, but I did. I tucked it away in my memory to pull out for later use.

"So, am I still the prettiest girl?" I asked teasingly.

Veld turned red but answered, "Yes." I almost laughed; for some reason I didn't. "...I think I can see why Valentine left you, though," he added. I stopped in my tracks, angry for some reason I couldn't place.

"I left Vincent, not the way around," I told him. Veld's brow furrowed.

"...I see," he said slowly. "So you wouldn't be willing to try..." He trailed off and shook his head.

"What?" I asked. "Getting involved with another Turk? I don't know. Maybe. Like I said, today I'm changing things up a bit. I'm considering new possibilities."

"You think I have a chance, then?" he asked. I thought he sounded cynical, but perhaps it was my imagination.

"I don't know," I replied. "I'll tell you when we reach our destination."

We didn't speak much after that. I believe both of us were thinking of the implications of either of my answers. I know I was. It was difficult because in my experience you could trust only one thing about a Turk and that was their loyalty to ShinRa. I had no reason to suspect differently with Veld.

In the end, I decided that I needed to step away from what was comfortable to me. The only way to rise is to change things. When we arrived at my room at the inn I told Veld that he did have a chance.


	16. Romantic Captain

It was very soon apparent that if a relationship between Veld and I were to ever work we'd both have to leave our work out of it. This was very hard for me because, after nearly four years, airsailing was my entire life. There was not an aspect of it that was not part of my rank or duties upon the airship. That was excluding the fact that my job had me all over the planet.

I had to get creative. Finding ways to be myself without being a sailor was one of the most challenging tasks I'd taken on in my life, but it was not unpleasant. Surprisingly enough, I relished every chance I had to add something to my life outside of the air.

This was probably one of the reasons that Veld and I did well together. Not to mention the fact that both our jobs kept us away from each other just long enough that we could not grow to hate one another.

The entirety of this relationship was a secret. I could not have my fellow sailors knowing that I was dating a Turk; I would have lost all of their respect in a moment. Veld could not have his mother knowing that he was dating a sailor; she would have made his life a living hell. This appealed to the romantic side of me and again furthered my affection.

I was twenty-four when I was promoted to captain. That was the first time Veld broke our code about keeping work completely out of our relationship. He could not restrain himself from congratulating me. To him there was some distinction about being promoted by ShinRa itself as opposed to being given a rank by a captain. I let him be, though it inwardly irked me that he had broken our one unbreakable rule. There wasn't much harm in congratulations and it _was _a distinction; even if not for the reasons Veld considered. I couldn't be terribly upset for long.

The second time Veld broke the rule about keeping our professions out of things was hardly two months later.

My airship needed repairs and we had to remain in Midgar because that was the only place we could get the parts that were necessary to completing those repairs. I took the opportunity to spend some time with Veld. The nature of his job, being what it was, lead him to remain in the large city far more often than I could afford to visit it.

It just so happened that I had the most rotten timing. ShinRa was holding a large fete at which they would reveal their plans for a large constructions project. The project would turn out to be the plates and the ShinRa building which would come to symbolize the massive city. All ShinRa employees were, of course invited. That included the airsailors, many of whom tore up their invitations and swore they'd never go to any party the ShinRa bourgeoisie was planning. I was among those sailors, though I did not participate openly in the tearing or the swearing.

At this fete the Turks would be the main source of security personnel, though there would be others hired to work beneath the Turks. Veld was placed in charge of organizing the Turks for this event. He was very proud of this fact, and rightly so for it was his first major step towards becoming the leader of the Turks. That was, however, not the place where he broke our rules.

The Turks, as ShinRa employees, were also invited to the party. They would work security for half of the party's duration and then be switched out with different Turks for the other. This was where Veld overstepped his bounds. Having half of the party free, he asked me to accompany him, after all, I was already invited so there should have been no problems with the fact that he had to work for half of the time.

I threw a fit. How dare he ask me to a party associated with work? Looking back, I think my tantrum was childish, but at that time I wondered how anyone might stay calm in such a situation.


	17. Party

I did end up attending the party with Veld. I was very reluctant and tried to keep in the shadows so that no one might recognize me. I had with me my uniform jacket to keep warm if it was needed, but I did not flaunt the fact that I was a sailor. I tried to downplay the fact as much as I could. I had the feeling that I was the only sailor there and if it was found out that I actually attended there would be no end to ribbing from my crew.

I stalked about with a drink in hand. Sometimes I watched the dancing that went on in one area, other times I watched the puffed up peacock-like people make fools of themselves in very severe manners. I wanted to laugh but that was only before I saw that my father was amongst those people. I ducked away then and contented myself with watching the dancing.

"You aren't going to dance?" someone asked from behind me. I wasn't quite sure that the person was speaking to me, in fact I was hoping that he wasn't, but I turned part way to see who it was anyway. I felt the blood drain from my face as I recognized the tall, dark-haired Turk. I didn't even need to make sure that his eyes were red.

"Hello, Vincent," I said. I tried quite hard to keep my cool and I think I succeeded. "No, I won't be dancing."

"Hmph." Vincent took a few steps forward to stand next to me. He narrowed his eyes a little and scrutinized the dancers. He had changed a lot since even the last time I'd seen him. "So, uh, Claudie... Where is your date?"

I laughed softly at that. "You think I need a date to come to an event such as this?"

Vincent turned towards me and frowned. "You work for ShinRa?" he asked skeptically.

"I do," I told him and began to walk away. I'd seen one of the members of my crew amongst the crowd. He was not cut out for airsailing but his father wanted him in ShinRa and he'd thought it would be fun to fly. He was a good kid, but I didn't particularly want to run into him. Of course, I wasn't going to tell Vincent that.

"Claudie?" Vincent called after me. I didn't even slow down. There was a little twinge in my heart, Vincent had always been a friend and I was being terribly rude.

I wandered aimlessly through the rooms for what seemed like an eternity. The enjoyment that I got from being there had not been much from the beginning but it seemed to have gone down. I almost left.

"Hey, Captain!" the young airsailor I mentioned previously came up to me as I was going for my jacket. "I thought I saw you earlier, but I wasn't sure. I didn't think you'd come to something like this."

"Hmph," I replied. "I was just curious, but I'll be leaving now." I started again for my jacket, but the boy insisted on speaking again.

"Oh, all right then, Captain," he said. I could see that he was flushed and didn't like the predictions for where this was going. "Good night, I suppose. Uh...by the way, you look, um, really beautiful tonight." It was rare for me to be complimented, even Veld was sparse with the sweet words, and so I stopped.

"Just so you know," I said. "I don't like little boys." It was something cruel to say but once it was said I could not take it back. The young sailor's flush deepened.

"I-I'm eighteen, Captain," he stammered.

"Indeed?" I asked, giving up my coat and beginning to drift away from the awestruck boy.

"He's right, you know," someone said behind me. I smirked because now that I'd heard it again, I recognized the voice immediately.

"Vincent again?" I asked almost coyly. "What was the boy right about?"

"About you being beautiful tonight," was the reply.

"Are you flirting with me, Vincent Valentine?" I accused lightly.

"Not at all," Vincent said to me. I stopped and turned to look at the Turk but he wasn't blushing like I'd expected he would be. I had to hand it to him, he'd lost a good deal of his social awkwardness since becoming a Turk. Perhaps it wasn't such a bad career choice for him after all. "I was merely observing from a friendly standpoint. We _are _friends, aren't we?" I actually considered for a moment.

"I suppose we can be friends," I replied.

"Good." I watched his cold expression as he observed the people milling about. There was no chance to see what he was thinking about. Before I could have read him like a book; but no longer, his face was as blank as a sheet of paper.

"So, you forgive me?" I asked him without even realizing I spoke aloud until he reacted. He started, then frowned in confusion.

"For what?" I am sure I turned bright crimson then. I had known I should not have brought the subject up and wasn't quite certain why I had.

"...For what I did back home," I answered in a shaking voice, wishing that perhaps I could vanish or walk away without him noticing. Vincent was frowning again, probably trying hard to remember the incident and not recalling it at all. It was almost insulting that it was so easy for him to forget.

"Of course," he finally told me.

"Right," I replied. I'd been up nights wondering if I'd done the right thing in leaving him, or if I'd been too cruel. I'd spent endless hours of monotonous work considering my actions, weighing them each in turn. Sometimes still, if my mind turned to it, and Vincent had completely forgotten about it. I gave a tiny sigh and put on my best smile.

"Well, you know, Claudie, in my line of work it doesn't do to keep dwelling on the past. Especially the wrongs of the past. Some very nasty stuff could get dragged up that way," Vincent continued as though defending himself to my thoughts.

"All right," I said. "You don't have to explain yourself to me, Vincent. I understand. Just promise me that you'll keep up that philosophy when something really horrendous comes up." A little half-smile appeared on Vincent's features.

"Who's to say something hasn't already?" he asked.

"Just call it a sixth sense," I replied and he shrugged.

"Okay."

"Thank you," I said, though I wasn't entirely sure what I was thanking him for, I didn't have time to think it over though because a hand clamped down lightly on my shoulder.

"Greetings, Captain," a familiar voice behind me said. "Hello, Valentine."

"Hello, Sir," Vincent said, his posture stiffening to a point where it looked uncomfortable.

"Get your filthy hand off me, you Turk," I growled. "Unless you want to lose it."

"As pleasant as ever, Thorne," Veld said to me. "As pleasant as ever. When does your shift start, Valentine?"

"In ten minutes, Sir," Vincent replied. Veld nodded approvingly. Apparently, there had been a last minute suggestion to stagger the shifts so that there was less opportunity of a hole being left in the perimeter. Veld said he'd accepted the change to his original plan gracefully, but up until then I'd had a hard time believing that. Vincent's apparent respect for the other Turk changed my mind; one couldn't earn Vincent's respect by acting like a child at criticism.

"Well, then," I said. "I'd better be going. Have a good evening, Vincent." With that I turned on my heel and began to walk away from the pair of Turks.


	18. Proposition

_Blue eyes met reddish brown ones as Shelke and Tifa exchanged understanding of the irony of what Claudie Thorne just told them that Vincent had promised her. There was a silent debate between them as to whether they should tell the woman about her friend's survival over the years. They decided it was best to leave that out until the end. There was no knowing how she might react and it would be easier to control any outrageous reactions if Yuffie wasn't completely absorbed in the tale._

_ "May I have some water?" Claudie asked softly. "I've been talking for a while now and my voice doesn't have the strength it used to." _

_ "Of course," Tifa replied and got the requested drink. Still standing, she decided that she had better get to cleaning up the bar area, that way she could still listen in to the captivating woman's story and get some work done. _

_ Claudie drank half her water before continuing on with her tale._

Veld followed me as I headed for the exit.

"You're not really leaving, are you?" he asked when he caught up to me. "Claudie?" I sighed and shook my head.

"No," I told him. "I've been waiting this long, I won't go now that the one who convinced me to come here is free."

"Good," Veld said. "That is...Thank you, Claudie." He pulled me out of the main area and gave me a kiss, from which I pulled away. He looked downcast and shut his eyes for a short moment. "There was... I mean...That is... I had a reason for asking you to this event." I clicked my tongue and smiled at the Turk.

"What's this?" I asked. "Where's all your confidence gone, Veld? It isn't like you to stumble over words this way."

"I know," the Turk showed his hands into the pockets of his dark blue suit. "Let's go outside, get some fresh air. You know, something like that."

"All right," I replied. "Just let me go get my-" Before I could finish my sentence Veld took off his jacket and put it around my shoulders.

"Let's go," he repeated and lead me to a side door. He spoke quickly and quietly to the Turk who was on watch there and we were let out.

The door lead us to a small courtyard. It was off limits to the public, I learned later, because it was old and most likely going to be torn down soon. It was elaborate and eerie in the dim light. I found it chilling and romantic, but wished it to be overflowing with greenery. However, Midgar wasn't the place for plants.

We didn't say much as we crossed the courtyard to a bench in a shadowed corner. Once we were seated and enveloped in the darkness of the corner Veld began to fidget. It was only a little at first but it became more pronounced as we continued to sit.

"There's something wrong," I said. "Tell me, Veld."

"Nothing is wrong, I assure you," he replied firmly. Then his eyes dropped. "It's just...I wanted to ask you something..." He trailed off.

I didn't like to see Veld act this way. It was disheartening. To remedy it, I stomped on his foot.

"You're a Turk," I said. "I expected more." Veld laughed darkly and sighed.

"I know." He took a deep breath. "Claudie Thorne will you marry me?"


	19. Marriage

Why I ever considered Veld's proposal, let alone accepted, is far behind me. I'd say that I was drunk but I'd not had enough to drink to even make me tipsy. There are a million different excuses I could come up with but which one fits is not easy to decide. I won't bore you with listing them all.

I was still in shock from my own answer when I went home that night and even a little until the day of the wedding. The weight of the situation only came down upon me when I was saying my vows. By then it was too far for me to turn back in my mind.

There was a very small group of people who attended the wedding. Close friends and family. Well...Veld's family, not mine, that consisted only of his insufferable mother; no friends from work were in attendance on either side. The group was admittedly _very _small.

I don't know why I felt I had to be so secretive about the event and Lucretia, one of the few who came for my benefit, chided me about it. She was very excited on my behalf as well, which was a good thing for me because I could observe and mimic her to a degree and hope that I acted like a proper bride. I counted Lucretia Crescent as my best friend during that time.

After the period of excitement due to the wedding, things returned to something that resembled normal. Veld and I met with each other when our schedules allowed but we were both extremely busy with work that took us all over the planet.

I didn't love Veld and I was very honest with myself in that fact. I was attached to him, no doubt, but it wasn't what I thought constituted love. I was glad for the time apart that we had because I didn't have to lie to _him_. I hated making Veld believe my lies, but I was mildly embarrassed that I didn't love my husband. I would have felt worse to know that Veld loved me deeply, but I purposely avoided thinking on that to save myself from guilt.

The events of my life so far were about to culminate and I didn't know it. When I went to visit Lucretia, out of friendly duty, in Nibelheim I had no idea what was in store for me and the people I knew with the birth of the cursed Jenova Project.


	20. Visit

_Every person in the room perked up when they heard those fatal words. Tifa nearly dropped a glass that she was drying off. She took a deep breath and set the fragile object down to avoid any further risk. They all stared at Claudie, who seemed not to have noticed the effect her words were having. _

The year 1977 was still quite young when I went to visit Lucretia in Nibelheim. She seemed to have been spending a good deal of time in the small town but I wasn't going to complain. It was out of the way and relatively quiet. The sort of place I really have a craving to be.

I went to visit Lucretia because I had a good chunk of time off and Veld didn't, therefore it wasn't an expectation that I spend my time off with him. It had been two years since our marriage and I still maintained that I liked Veld very much but did not love him.

Lucretia, quiet, mild Lucretia, became quite irritated with me over the subject. At one point she told me to "hurry up and fall in love." She hated all the tension between Veld and I because she had come to be rather fond of Veld in a sisterly way and wanted us both to be happy. I commended her for her big heart but also feared that a heart so large would be easily broken.

When I met my friend after arriving in Nibelheim she was almost too distracted to speak in coherent sentences. She apologized for having less time to spend with me than she had first assumed she would have. The project that she was working on, which she would not go into any detail about, had advanced on and she was working with a Professor Hojo on "something big".

Trying to get more information out of the evasive scientist I asked her about this Hojo fellow. I learned a good deal about _him_ but little about the project. What I learned could be summed up in one sentence. Lucretia had a good deal of professional respect for the other scientist but, on a personal level, she detested him.

Over supper, Lucretia told me that a Turk had been assigned to protect herself and Hojo. This Turk wasn't there yet but he'd be arriving the next day. She laughed when she told me how insulted Hojo had seemed at the mere suggestion that he might need a Turk to protect him. He'd thrown something akin to a fit and sworn that he would not have some half-witted ShinRa dog stand over his shoulder while he dealt with "sensitive data".

"Well, Lu," I told my friend. "Sounds like you'll be gettin' a good deal of quality one on one time with this Turk." Lucretia shivered at that.

"I...don't know if I'll like that..." she admitted. "Turks are rather intimidating after all..."

"Don't you worry," I laughed. "They just follow orders. Tell them to sit and they will sit. Sort of like a dog..." We both grinned widely over that.

"Say, isn't that rather insulting to your husband?" Lucretia asked me. It was my turn to cringe.

"Neh," I shrugged, attempting to reclaim my nonchalance. "Veld's okay when he's off duty, but once in a while those habits _do_ carry over." I laughed and Lucretia joined in.

It wasn't long after that when we both went off to bed.


	21. Panic

I woke the next morning to find that Lucretia had already gone off to work. That didn't much matter to me, however, because I'd expected nothing less. Lucretia was more dedicated to her work than a Turk to ShinRa, and that was saying something. I didn't think she'd falter in her research even if she was dying.

I took the opportunity to eat a light breakfast and lounge on the couch with a good book. I actually liked to read a lot, but there was simply no time to do so when commanding an airship full of rowdy young men. I sometimes missed the days of my childhood where, on rainy days,z I would have hours upon hours to curl up and be transported to another realm.

I was still reading when Lucretia crashed into her home with a desperate look on her face. She sank down onto the floor just in front of the door and remained there, shivering. I closed my book slowly, rather unsure of what I should do. When her state showed no signs of changing, I got up and went over to her.

"Rosie," she whimpered. "I'm going to die. I've never been in such a terrifying situation in all my life." I thought she was going to burst into tears then. Surprisingly she did not, but only looked at me with watery eyes.

"What?" I asked. "Is it that Turk? Just tell me who it is and I'll kick his ass 'til he cooperates." I felt oddly like a protective older brother in saying that, but I meant it. If Veld was one of the best and I'd tied in a fight with him, I could surely beat any other Turk they sent.

"It's _his _son," Lucretia moaned. "I don't think I can keep spending time with him. He-he...Oh, Rosie, why did they have to send _that _Turk?" She choked on a dry sob. The only other time I'd seen Lucretia that worked up was when...

"Do you mean Dr. Valentine's son?" I asked and received an affirming nod from my scientist friend. "Vincent's a good guy. I promise that he's not going to treat you badly simply because of your association with his father in the past. Besides it's not like you said, 'Hello, I'm Lucretia Crescent, I killed your father.' Now is it?" Lucretia shook her head. "And it's not like you're _going _ to say that the next time you see him, right?" Again, she shook her head. "Well, then, I don't see your problem."

I didn't tell Lucretia that Vincent had actually hated his father; I didn't think she'd believe me and I wasn't sure if Vincent's sentiments had changed since Grimoire's death. A part of me hoped that Vincent had changed his views on his father because I knew Dr. Valentine had been a good man, but another part of me hoped that he hadn't for Lucretia's sake.

"Go upstairs, take a shower, and change your clothes," I ordered sharply to Lucretia who was still getting over her fit. "I'll make supper... Don't you look at me like that; I _can _cook. You need to get over this guilt complex you have, or it'll ruin your life. My temporary solution is some of that good wine you have in your cupboard. Now get moving."

Lucretia had stood and kicked off her shoes when a knock came on the door. Lucretia started and stared at the wooden barrier with horror.

"You get going," I said. "I'll get it." Lucretia followed my orders with a good deal of speed and nearly tripped over her own feet as she scooted around the corner towards the bathroom. I waited for her to be out of sight before I straightened my posture and put a false smile on my face and opened the door.

Before me stood the Turk in question, Vincent Valentine. _Just our luck_, I thought blandly. Although, it could become a blessing in disguise. Lucretia just needed to see that she wasn't oozing a guilty aura and learn what nice person Vincent really was, or so I hoped.

"Hello?" I asked.

"I am looking for Dr. Crescent. She left without informing me and as her bodyguard it is my duty to... Claudie?" It had taken him that long to recognize me and I felt quite insulted, I didn't think I'd changed that much since the fete where we'd last seen each other.

"Hello, Vincent," I said, unable to help a small smirk despite my irritation.

"What are you doing here?"

"Visiting a friend," I replied. "So, you're the Turk they foisted on poor Lu."

"Excuse me?" Vincent asked, then shook his head. "Is Dr. Crescent home? I need to know that she made it here safely."

"Mmhm," I said. "She's here, but she's indisposed at the moment. If you don't trust me and would like to come in and wait... I don't doubt that she won't be long. However, _I_ must make supper." I stepped away from the door and Vincent entered. After shutting the door behind him, I went to the closed bathroom door and knocked.

"What is it, Rosie?" I heard Lucretia's muffled voice from within.

"At the door was Mr. Valentine of the Turks," I told her. "He came to check up on you. I invited him in."

"You what?" Lucretia shrieked.

"Shush," I commanded. "I invited him in, and am going to invite him to stay for supper. You're going to stay calm about this and act like civilized person. It may be your house, but I'm not letting you be excused from dinner."

"But-!" Lucretia protested.

"No buts, now finish with your shower."


	22. Wine

The only good thing about supper that night was the food. It was simple yet well made and went nicely with the wine. It was the same wine that I guzzled down in increasing increments as the awkward meal went on.

There was very little conversation and none which I did not initiate myself. Every attempt I made to get Vincent and Lucretia to talk failed. I have little doubt that the efforts to kill conversation were all on Lucretia's side because Vincent seemed apt enough to talk.

Finally, after I was feeling quite tipsy and had long lost reckoning of how much wine I'd had, I stood. I leaned on the table, hoping that it looked more indignant than needing of support, although I was beginning to need that as well.

"Lucretia Crescent," I announced loudly. "If you don't begin talking more there will be no reason for me to stay at the table!" Vincent was quite confused by my outburst, I think, as he took the wine bottle out of my reach.

"Claudie...I think you've had enough of-"

"What do you want me to talk about?" Lucretia asked without warning. She had gone very pale.

"Anything," I told her. "The weather, the project you're working on..."

"You're not _that _clever, Rosie," she told me.

"Why do you call her Rosie?" Vincent asked. I'm not quite sure why he asked that then, it wasn't exactly the most opportune moment. I suppose it wasn't a bad thing, because it achieved what I had not been able to do. It forced Lucretia to speak directly to Vincent.

"Because she is like a rose...A beautiful person, but uncontrolled and...spiky," she replied. I grinned, quite pleased that things we turning out better.

"That's me!" I sang. "Spike, spike, spike!" I then let out laughter that I couldn't hold back. I was embarrassed of my actions, but the words seemed to spill out of my mouth before my brain could process what they actually were.

"You're drunk, Claudie," Vincent said. I could tell he wasn't impressed. I couldn't help it though; the wine had been a distraction from the tension in the room. One could not say that it hadn't worked.

"I...think...I'll go lie down now..." I said. Things didn't seem very clear right then, but the next morning I would remember much better with the help of Lucretia's version of the night.

Currently, I'm not sure which part of this tale is from my own mind and what part is suggestion from Lucretia's lips.

According to Lucretia, I stumbled out of the dining room and to the guest room where I slept. How I found it is a miracle that will never be revealed the minds of men. According to myself...there is nothing beyond Vincent's statement of my being drunk.


	23. Jealous

_"I remember being angry when I found out that Lucretia and Vincent got along quite well after I'd gone to bed," Claudie said slowly. She was considering each word with a bit of introspection. It seemed as though she'd not told this part of her story in a while._

_"Ooh, sounds like someone was jealous," Yuffie_ _laughed. It was the first thing the young ninja had said in a while and it made everyone jump. They weren't used to Yuffie_ _being so quiet and Tifa_ _had even begun to wonder if she'd fallen asleep._

_The next act__ion taken was a __simultaneous_ _turn of the three heads towards Claudie. The woman had been baring her soul to the young women and Y__uffie had said something rude. They each had their own predictions of what the now less mysterious lady would do and yet they all second guessed their answers._

_Claudie, herself, was silent for a long moment. She thought about it seriously. _

_"Yes," she said. "I was jealous." _

_Her tone was so regretful that Tifa took a step away from the bar and towards Claudie, wishing she could do something to help._ _Everything was over and done with for the group that had fought Sephiroth. They had returned to normal life and yet this woman sitting before them was still deeply bothered by events long gone. _

_"I was terribly jealous," Claudie continued, as though having forgotten that she'd already said that. "We all paid for it though. Hm...But perhaps surviving is the worst lot of them all." _

_"C'mon!" Yuffie said. "Don't say th-" Claudie held up her hand to silence the Wutaian._

In the days that followed I could not stop thinking about how lucky Lucretia was to be able to conquer her problems with ease. I was bitter. There was no denying the sorry fact. I was green with envy and more bitter than I can possibly describe.

Whenever Lucretia began talking about little inane things that she did or talked about with Vincent it was all I could do to stop myself from giving her a black eye.

Just when I thought I couldn't take any more, I was saved. It was even by a bell. Who can deny that?

I was at my wits end with trying to tell Lucretia that I had to leave without making her feel bad. I had been trying for the past three days to tell Lucretia in the gentlest manner possible. I wanted to be able to get out while not taking on that horrible feeling called guilt. I'd made up tiny speeches in my head, the way I did when I had to give bad news to my crew. None of it made me feel any better. That was before the phone rang, though.

I was in the middle of trying to splutter something out that made sense even to my own ears, when the telephone signaled a call was coming in. Lucretia put her hand up patiently to silence my struggling attempt and answered the phone. She didn't say much beyond the initial "hello". It wasn't long, however, after that when she handed it to me with a whispered "be nice."

"Hello?" I asked tentatively, wondering who it might be that I would have to "be nice" to.

"Hello, Claudie," Veld said. I thought I was going to fall over. Veld was the last person I'd expected to hear from. I looked at Lucretia with wide eyes but she was no help.

"Hello, Veld," I said. "I thought you were working."


	24. Vacation

It took me a very tedious journey to get to Costa del Sol. I'd thought it would be an easy trip but, with my timing, there were no airships going in that direction. I had to go on land and crossing mountains had never been a light business. I was tired and irritable when I reached the sunny place but I was glad to have been taking from the midst of my jealous intentions, whatever I'd thought of them then.

I didn't even bother to look for Veld when I arrived. If he wanted to find me, he would. I didn't doubt his abilities as a Turk in that area. No matter where I was, he could search me out.

I dressed in my (I am ashamed to admit it now) skimpiest bathing suit and went straight to the sandy beach. I lay on the ground, basking in the warmth of the sun and the stares coming from the young men who were about. I have no problem saying that I was once beautiful. Despite my mannerisms and short hair, I was attractive.

I was almost asleep when I was disturbed by shade blocking the sun's view of me. I cracked my eyes open to see the colour of a sun umbrella over my head. I growled lightly and sat up on my elbows to see who had placed the obstruction over my sun bathing self.

"If you fell asleep like that, you would have been burned," Veld told me and I snorted. Of course it would be him. He squatted down to be included in the umbrella's range of shade and grinned at me. I had half a mind to toss a handful of sand his way, but I restrained myself.

Forcing a smile onto my face I sent a scanning eye around to see the wary glances of the young men who had been eying me greedily before Veld's arrival. I didn't mind the loss of their attention much because Veld, observant as he was, would not be pleased by the others watching me.

"So, you found me, pet," I said teasingly, looking my husband over from head to toe. He didn't appear to have been harmed, so I had to assume that his last mission successful. I inwardly cringed at the thought that others had most likely lost their lives by the hands that were now seeking mine.

"I did," Veld replied as he leaned closer in to kiss the top of my head. "You weren't trying very hard to hide, my dear. You must admit that." I laughed and pulled Veld down closer so that I could kiss him on the mouth. I had to admit that, in love with him or not, it was nice to have someone to be affectionate toward.

"Mmm, I guess I wasn't," I told him when I broke the kiss. I glanced over his shoulder at the other men and flashed a smirk. It was no great loss to me, as I stated previously... Besides, Veld was far better looking.


	25. Advice

Lucretia was crying again. She called me the night I arrived in Costa del Sol and she was crying again. I sighed and shifted the phone to my other ear. With my view of the room greatly widened I observed Veld doing...well, whatever it is that Turks do in their free time. (I never cared to ask and thus never learned.)

"What's the matter, Lu?" I asked, heaving another large sigh. I'd willingly agreed to finish my vacation time with Veld to get _away _from any drama that might ensue from Vincent and Lucretia's new relationship. Instead, I was confounded by hearing all about it on the phone, miles away, unable to do a thing about it.

"...and that's what happened," Lucretia was finishing up. I had only caught the gist of what she'd sobbed out to me. I sighed again, and looked at Veld with pleading eyes. If only he would make me put the phone down to do something, _anything_. Alas, he seemed perfectly content to let me talk with my friend for a while longer.

"I...don't see your problem," I admitted sheepishly. Things had been going great for the two until Vincent had somehow found out that Lucretia had known his father. He'd asked her, like any sane person, why she'd kept it a secret that she'd worked with Grimoire years ago. Lucretia being Lucretia, she'd told the whole story. It was her fault for baring the whole truth and if Vincent had been furious, I would have told Lucretia that I would have nothing to do with her problem. It might have cost me the friendship, but I was tiring of Lucretia and her problems being dumped on me.

As it was, Vincent had _not _been furious. He, as I, had tried to convince Lucretia that Grimoire's death had not been so much her fault as she assumed. I was shocked and appalled to find that Lucretia had refused to even consider believing the opinion of Grimoire's _son_. There was simply no help for the girl, she was determined to be thick headed about an _accident_.

"Well...I just...I don't know how I feel about Vincent really. I can't possibly stay with him, but I couldn't bear to hurt him," Lucretia said. I heard her searching for the right words to say and lightly banged my head against the wall. The unorthodox action elicited a confused stare from Veld.

"Why can't you stay with Vincent, Lu?" I asked with a sigh. It was probably going to be a waste of time to listen to it because I didn't think there would be any reason behind it. Sometimes I wondered why I was Lucretia's friend but then I remembered that she had listened to a lot of _my _shit over the years, even if I didn't want to remember that.

"...His eyes..." Lucretia said after thinking for a moment. "He's got his father's eyes."

"He's always had his father's eyes," I reminded her. At least it was a short reason even if it was meaningless.

"Yes...Well, now I feel extremely guilty every time I see those eyes," Lucretia tried to explain. I raised an eyebrow despite knowing that she could not see it.

"Really?" I asked in disbelief. "You've been spending time with Vincent for how long and you only start feeling guilty _now_?"

"Yes!" Lucretia screamed into the phone, beginning to cry again. "I don't want to even _look _at him for fear that he would reproach me with those blasted red eyes! And then it would be like Dr. Valentine chiding me all over again for going too fast with my thesis...And...and..." She broke down sobbing. I waited for her to calm down again. Her sobs slowed eventually and then she asked me in a breathy voice, "What if I can't help going back to that theory of mine and more people get hurt?"

"Do you think that's likely?" I asked her.

"...I don't know," she squeaked.

"Don't worry about it until the time comes, then," I told her. "You've got enough on your plate." Lucretia was silent for a moment.

"I suppose you're right," she admitted. "But what am I going to do about Vincent?"

"Well, you obviously don't hate him..." I mused.

"Of course not!" Lucretia cried. "Only...I'm not entirely sure...what I feel."

"Mmhmm," I said. "But you could grow to hate him..." I wasn't trying to insinuate anything, only feel out the situation, but Lucretia didn't take it that way. She stammered out protests before thinking about it and slowly admitting that it might be possible for her to hate Vincent, if things continued the way they were.

"...I need to change something," Lucretia murmured, as though realizing it for the first time.

"That's what you called me about, isn't it?" I asked.

"Hm...Yeah," Lucretia said.

"Well, I would leave him...If I were you," I said. "I would want to remember our time together as a good thing, not grow bitter and spiteful of him. But I guess I'm a bit of a romantic at heart. Of course, you have to do what will make _you _happy, Lu. You can't worry about what I will think, or even what Vincent will think. If you're not happy, then do something to make yourself so."

"All right," Lucretia said. "You've told me what I need to know. I've got to get back to work now, though. Perhaps I'll call again and tell you how everything turns out. Okay?"

"Okay," I replied, thinking it was a little late to be returning to work, but not mentioning that. It wasn't my problem that Lucretia was a workaholic. I wanted to say goodbye and hang up but something kept me from it.

"You know, Rosie," Lucretia started suddenly. I was glad I hadn't hung up. "You're the best friend I've ever had." A nagging feeling in the back of my mind told me she wouldn't be saying that for much longer.


	26. Worry

"You're really going so soon?" Veld asked me. I shrugged. I had been on the ground far longer than any other time since before I'd begun flying and I was simply itching to get back to my airship. My Turk husband sighed and nodded. "Of course you are. You have to work. Don't mind me. Go on, your crew probably misses you." To my everlasting surprise he tried to herd me onto the airship. I responded with a threat to break his wrist.

"Goodbye, Veld," I said. "Try not to get yourself killed. I don't want anyone to take that task from me."

"Will do," Veld chuckled.

We easily translated the code we'd tacitly created a long time ago. -Goodbye, I'll miss you, I worry about you, and I love you. -I know, same here.

I recognized how odd it was for me to have been lying to Veld in that code for two years only then. I was distracted when my crew members came up to give reports in each of their areas to the point where they asked if something was wrong. I replied that nothing was and pushed the thought from my head until I had some time to myself.

Returning to my role as captain was comforting. The surroundings were once again the beloved, familiar backdrop that was my bird. The people were my surrogate family, not always my favourite people on the planet but the ones I knew best. Even the smell of the place set my mind at ease. Nothing bad could happen as long as I was on that ship and in control. Notwithstanding a mutiny, of course.

Our schedule was busy and I was content. My life was resuming its usual pace. I could forget about Lucretia's troubles, I could forget about my own issues with Veld, I only had to concentrate on keeping my ship in the air. I was free from the reach of the land and even, to some extent ShinRa. I would learn one day how much an illusion that freedom was, but it was my solace while I thought it real.

I don't remember events from most of that time because nothing extraordinary happened. But I do remember late February of '77. I was in Nibelheim for some reason. It must have been a drop off of some goods because someone had to come to sign off on them. That person happened to be Lucretia.

I could not deny that she looked ill. There were dark circles under her eyes and she was listless. Her cheeks were quite gaunt. I was alarmed to find that she could barely hold a pen in her hand as she tried to sign the paper.

"Working too much, are you, Lu?" I asked. She jumped, actually dropping the pen to the ground. When she bent to get it, she squeezed her eyes shut and hissed in pain. Seeing my friend's distress, I quickly scooped the writing utensil off the cement. "Where's Vincent?" I demanded. "Isn't he supposed to be protecting you...from yourself as well? You have been working far too much recently, Lu. Even I can see that. You've obviously caught some disease also. You need to go home and rest."

"Rosie?" Lucretia asked. I was astonished to discover that she'd only just processed that it was me. My jaw dropped reflexively. I felt the cold late winter wind tugging at my clothes and looked for a warm place for the sick Lucretia to wait while I found Vincent and boxed his ears for letting her get so bad. The only place close was my airship and so I dragged her aboard, telling my first mate to keep a watch on her while I went in search of my least favourite Turk at that moment.

When I did find Vincent I could only barely restrain my urge to slam him against the nearest wall and break his nose.

"Claudie, what are you doing here?" Vincent asked. I wasn't in the mood for greetings though.

"What? Do you have your head up your ass or something? Are you blind? How come Lucretia is so sick and not in bed?" I demanded.

Vincent looked very worn out. He looked almost as bad as Lucretia, but not quite. It didn't really make me feel guilty about yelling at him, but it did make me wonder what it was about Nibelheim that made people work themselves into the ground.

"I know," Vincent said with a sigh to beat all sighs I'd ever heard.

"You _know_?" I asked, wondering if he had even understood what I was talking about. "Well, what are you going to do about it?"

"What _can _I do about it?" Vincent asked. I tried to formulate an answer, but before I could speak, Vincent continued. "No, you're right. I...should have done _something_."

"Well, never mind that," I said. There was something in Vincent's eyes that made me think of Lucretia when I saw her right after Dr. Valentine's death. "What's wrong with Lucretia, anyway?"

"She's experimenting..." Vincent told me.

"Well, that explains it," I said, feeling relieved. "She never takes enough-"

"...On herself," Vincent finished. I could almost feel the bile collecting in my stomach to make me sick. My cheeks cooled as the blood drained from them.

"O-on hers-_self_?" I stammered. "But why?" I resisted the urge to grab the front of Vincent's dark blue blazer and shake him until he answered me, though only just barely. I clenched and unclenched my fists while Vincent searched for the words.

"Technically, her unborn child is the subject of the experiment," he said slowly, frowning as he spoke. "But what she told me was that if it only concerns her, then it's her decision, and she wanted to make it."

"But it doesn't just concern her, it concerns the ch-chil- She's pregnant?" Vincent slowly nodded in response. "Who's the father?" I expected Vincent to say it was himself and then I could yell at him for letting her do experiments on his own child.

"Hojo."

I didn't know what to think or say. I had thought that Lucretia detested Hojo, and had reason to with the way she spoke about him. I'd told her to leave Vincent, not run to some man she didn't even like. Not to mention that I hadn't really expected Lucretia to listen to me.

"Well," I finally choked out. "Lucretia is on my airship right now. I had to get her out of the cold. You can come with me to get her, but only if you promise to make her take it a little more easy. She was barely coherent. If you won't promise to do that for me, then I will keep Lu on my ship for the next two days while we work though some of the paperwork and whatnot. She needs to rest and be off her feet."

"I'd willingly promise you that," Vincent said. "But I think you'd get better results keeping her on your airship." My shoulders sagged and I sighed.

"I was bluffing, Vincent," I said. "I can't keep her on my ship. If it was found out... I'm walking on thin ice keeping her there now. ShinRa keeps thinking up new restrictions to try to make us more loyal. I'm not overly thrilled that they're telling us who we can or cannot have on our airships, but I don't want to be the first one to be fired."

"I won't tell," Vincent said. I laughed bitterly.

"You're a Turk, of course you'll tell," I told him. "But, if you have your hands full with Lucretia's antics, it'll be a while. You're not the Turk I'm worried about right now."

Vincent shrugged and I was glad he was...well, Vincent. I knew there would be no digging, no probing questions. Of all the Turks, he was the least likely to carry over his Turk tendencies into his private life. I couldn't help but applaud my own choice of friend; out of the Turks, that is. I was far more worried about Veld sticking his nose into my business.

"Now, come on," I said. "Let's get get Lu..." I was far less angry returning to my airship than I had been on leaving it. Though I could not deny being perturbed by the news that Lucretia was experimenting on herself.


	27. Family

I was distracted enough by my thoughts about Lucretia's experiment even two months later that I could run into my own brother and not recognize him. This was added to by the fact that he was the sort of man who stood out in a crowd. At thirty-one years of age Tommin Thorne was only contented to wear black and frighten people away from him. Why he did so is a mystery to me because he was one of the nicest people I knew.

"Claudia Thorne," he called after me as I was walking away. "I'm disappointed in you." I turned on my heel and squinted at Tommin as though it would bring his image into clearer focus.

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"You don't even greet your big brother after all these years," he said. "Well, I suppose that shows how much you really care for us."

"Tommin?" I asked. When he inclined his head regally, I laughed. "Gaia, you've gotten old."

"Well, isn't that a fine hello," Tommin said, arms crossed in a very undignified manner. I grinned and laughed again.

"It's been a while, Tom," I told him. "I need to remember how to act around family. How is everyone?" Tommin smiled, knowing I'd given him control of the conversation at least temporarily.

"Why don't you come see them?" he asked. "Everyone is home, besides Father. Oh, and you haven't met Vic's wife, have you?" I smiled.

"I've got some things to do, but I can come later this afternoon if I won't be a bother," I said. Tommin acted as though he were considering before nodding.

"I think we can allow that," he said. "But you'd better not run off, Claudie. I don't want to be made the fool for telling everyone you'll come."

I promised to go, and I kept to my promise. I was apprehensive about meeting with my family again. I'd had almost no contact with them in more seven years. After that amount of time, simply walking back into my old home was a frightening task. I stood at the door, hand poised to knock, wondering if I shouldn't just leave.

When I was on the brink of a decision, one that I cannot remember, the door swung open. It was propelled by a young girl with pigtails. She stared at me with large eyes.

"Who are you?" she asked. I didn't know how to answer the child. I'd never met the girl and wasn't entirely sure who _she _was. I opened my mouth, then closed, and opened it once more.

"Nella! Don't open the door to strangers!" A man who appeared about my own age scooped the girl and nearly glared at me with a suspicious gaze. "Who are you?"

Again, I didn't know how to answer and the thought of walking away seemed very nice to me just then. I would have done so if Tommin hadn't come bounding down the stairs and out the door to give me a bear hug.

"I didn't think you would come," he told me.

"I didn't think you'd act like a four year old," I retorted in good fun. He grinned and ruffled my hair. I ducked away and assumed the posture of those on the offensive. "Touch me again and..." I stopped and realized that I had just reverted back to how I had acted as a child and how I acted around Veld for the most part. I frowned and straightened, staring at my oldest brother curiously.

"'M just happy to see you after so long," he said, deflated. Then he turned to the man who was still watching me with narrowed eyes. "Vic...Why didn't you let Claudie in?" Mine and Vic's jaws dropped in unison.

"How's that Claudie?" Vic asked. "I didn't even think it was a woman." I turned red and clenched my fists.

"Well, the years haven't exactly been very nice to you, either, Big Bro," I said. It was a lie. Whatever Vic had been doing in the past few years had been positive. He had matured a lot from the annoying young man I remembered.  
I could barely believe that it was the same person at all.

"Hey, hey, you guys," Tommin said, standing between us. "No more fighting, we're all adults here."

"Now what's with all this ruckus?" My mother and another woman came out to see what was going on. Of all the people, my mother had changed the most. Her unkempt hair was slicked back into a neat bun and had turn completely silver. She had lost some weight, or gained some wrinkles, though it was probably both. Her eyes were still bright with whatever spirit possessed her to work on her insane projects.

"Is that my daughter come home?" she asked when, after a glance around the gathered people, she recognized me. "Claudia Thorne. You never write." She clicked her tongue in disapproval.

"I'm sorry," I told her. "I never get time to. Besides, you and father made it very clear that I was no longer part of the family. I didn't think it would be welcome for me to write. In fact, I only came because I was afraid Tommin would do worse to me if I didn't than you would when I arrived."

"Your father made that clear, but as you know, he is always in Midgar. You could have written _me_. I would have appreciated knowing whether my only girl was dead or alive. All I've had this past decade has been whatever new Tommin manages to scrounge up. That's not very comforting to a mother you know."

"I'm sorry," I repeated.

"So, this is the renegade sister of yours, is it?" the other woman said, looking at Vic with one sculpted eyebrow raised. "She's not much to look at."

"She's enough to look at, Mama," the little girl said. "She's really big."

"She just wants to be mean to your aunt is all," Tommin said to the little girl in Vic's arms with a smile.

"Aunt?" I asked at the same moment the girl asked, "Ant?"

"But she's not a bug," the little girl, who I'd just discovered was my niece, protested. "I don't like bugs."

"Never mind that," Vic sighed. "Let's all go inside. I think we're making a bit of a scene on the street."


	28. Baby

"So, why didn't you tell them I was coming?" I asked once we were all seated and Vic's wife was making tea. I'd told my mother that I didn't want any, especially since the younger woman seemed to dislike me, but my mother had insisted. I was seated across from Tommin with my mother on my right and my other brother on my left. Nella, my niece, sat next to Vic on Tommin's side and my sister-in-law sat opposite her daughter.

"I dunno." Tommin shrugged. "I suppose I forgot." Tommin and Vic seemed to have reversed roles in the past seven years. Tommin's cool maturity melted away to reveal an inner child while Vic's annoying self-importance had dimmed with the responsibility required for being the head of his own family.

"Yeah," I said shortly. "I guess you did." I wasn't really very angry at Tommin, I felt as though I couldn't be. There was something more beneath the surface but I didn't know what it was yet.

"Well, anyway," Janall said, beginning to pour the tea. "It doesn't really matter." She purposely sloshed some of the hot liquid onto my lap. I rose instantly and grabbed the front of her shirt. It took me a moment before I understood what I was doing. I had almost come to blows over her petty prank. I was ashamed of myself.

"I-I'm sorry," I said, sitting back down. The front of my pants was beginning to cool, leaving the fabric feeling clammy and sticky against my thighs. I rested my elbows on the table and put my face in my hands.

"You should've beat her," Tommin remarked.

My head felt odd and when I looked up the room seemed to spin. I was definitely not myself. My limbs felt like jelly and I thought I would fall over. I passed out then.

When I woke up I was on the sofa. There were several pairs of disapproving eyes on me and Janall was preening like a peacock.

"Well, I just _knew _there had to be a reason she stayed away," she said. "After all, what _decent _girl would avoid her family the way she's been doing? I'm not entirely sure we should be letting our Nella be around such a _loose _woman, Vic." She glanced over at my brother.

"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked. Janall gasped.

"Did you hear that?" she cried. "She _cursed_ in the presence of a child!" She held her daughter close to her; the girl blinked confusedly not knowing what was going on.

"Eh," I shrugged. "She'll get over it."

"Well, anyway, Claudie," my mother said shortly. "You really should pay closer attention to how much you are sleeping, what with the baby and all."

I'd known that I hadn't been getting much sleep. Between work and worry there just wasn't any time left over. If someone wanted to lecture me on that, let them. I could take a lecture, they'd never meant much to me. Let them flap their gums, what use was it if they didn't ever _act_? What I hadn't expected to hear was the word baby used in the lecture.

"Baby?" I asked. My first reaction was to think that I'd heard wrong. I looked at all assembled, hoping that one would correct me. Some odd word that sounded like baby...now what could it be? Nothing came to me and no one spoke. "What do you mean _baby_?" I asked.

"Ha!" Janall looked smug. "She didn't even know she was pregnant. If that's not the sign of a slut I don't know what is!" I yawned and scratched my head, not comprehending more from a wish not to understand than a mishearing of words.

"You must have some skewed sense of what's decent now, Sis," I said through a second yawn. "May I call you Sis?"

"Absolutely not!" my sister-in-law half-screamed.

"So... Am I really pregnant, Tom?" I asked, turning to my eldest brother. He shrugged and wouldn't look me in the eye.

"That's what the doctor said," he told me. I considered for a minute. There was no questioning that my mother would have called a doctor if I'd passed out. She held the view that she couldn't become ill, lest it interrupt her oh, so important research (whatever research that was).

"Shit," I murmured again.

"Will you _stop _using those curse words?" Janall hissed.

"Can it!" I screamed at her. "I've just heard some very upsetting news."

"It's only upsetting because you're a little slut and you don't even know who the father is!" Janall countered. I ground me teeth, trying to hold in my temper. I was not going to cause more of a scene than I already had. "That's it, isn't it?" Janall sat back with a smug expression on her face and I lost my fragile grasp on my anger.

I crossed the room on wobbling legs and slapped her with all my might. Her head snapped sideways and she remained that way in shocked silence, the imprint of my hand glowing red on her meticulously pale skin. The welt from my wedding ring was just above her jawbone.

Every creature in the room drew in a breath and held it as they waited for the snippy little princess my brother had married to regain her composure. She began by blinking back the tears that had been ushered forth by the sting from the strike.

"Oh, suck it up," I whispered. "And, by the way, darling, I'm married."

Tommin had been perched on the arm of the sofa , but when I said that he toppled onto the floor. Everyone was staring at me once more. I could see the astonishment glistening in their eyes as I returned to the sofa and sank down onto the old piece of furniture.

"M-m-married?" my mother finally stammered. "But...Claudie, why didn't you tell us? I would have loved to see your wedding."

"The same reason I didn't visit or write," I answered miserably. "I didn't think it would be welcome. But more importantly now...now there's this..._thing _inside me and I don't know if _it_ will be welcome in this world." I thought I would cry, but I forced that indignity to be beneath me.

"Of course it will be welcome, Claudie," my mother told me in the sagely tone I'd come to expect from all old women. It struck me nearly dumb to realize my _mother_ of all people had become old. She'd always seemed to have a never ending supply of youth when I was a child. "What makes you say such silly things? It will have at least a mother, a father, and a grandmother who will love it very much."

"But you don't understand my situation," I tried to explain. "It isn't as though I'll be able to be home all the time and care for it."

"Oh, pah," my mother said. "Less and less women are doing that anyway these days."

"Yeah, but traveling all over Gaia? Going who knows where at who knows what times? I don't think there are many mothers with my job, mom," I sighed.

"What about your husband?" my mother pressed. "What sort of man is he?" I considered her question but could only conjure up an image of Veld doing the ironing and fail to hold back a snorting laugh.

"No, mother," I said. "His job is just as uncertain. Maybe more. No, I'm certain it's more so."

"Well, who is he?" my mother said. "It's not as though we know much about your life now, is it? The last thing I remember was your crush on that Valentine boy. Vincent, wasn't it? You didn't go off and marry _him_, did you?"

"No, mother," I said with a slight chuckle. "I didn't marry Vincent."

"Good," she murmured so that only I could hear. "There was something about that boy I never did like."


	29. Warned

I left my family early that evening, claiming that I needed to sleep more now that I knew about the child within my body. I really didn't intend to do much sleeping. There was too much to consider.

I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose as I walked down the familiar path to the dilapidated section of my home city. It was interesting how much I remembered even after seven years without thinking about it. My pace was steady and slow as I seemed to meander down almost random streets. I didn't want to think about any danger that might come to me as I entered the poorer sections of the city.

There was still a part of my mind monitoring my surroundings, however, and so I was not completely shocked when Audrey tried to sneak up on me. I growled something about running into the strangest of people while my old mentor looked me over.

"Well, you've certainly changed, Claudie Thorne," he finally admitted with a shake of his head. "I never would have thought you'd become so..._fa__mou_s." He chuckled lightly and clapped me on the shoulder. "Of course I've got my own bird as well now. It just took me a little longer because I didn't have the aid of being a small, harmless looking girl." I sniffed in offense but Audrey only shrugged. "You can't deny that ShinRa had it in mind to use you. I just guess they got more than they bargained for." I laughed with him then.

"So, what brings you here, Aude?" I asked. Audrey tilted his head from side to side as he weighed the truth against any one of the lies he might try to feed me. I think the truth won out in the end simply because he knew I could spot a liar from a mile away. With my reputation for being the "Turk beater" there wasn't a person I knew who would challenge me to fight. I didn't expect Audrey to be different, unless he took the fact that he'd taught me how to fight in the first place to mean that he was better than I. That is the biggest failing in most teachers but I didn't find it in Audrey.

"You know, the usual. Orders from ShinRa and a plea from my family to finally find a girl to settle down with," he smiled. "Though now that I'm thirty they've really kicked it into high gear. Must be desperate. Know any nice girls around?" I grinned and shook my head.

"All the girls around here are taken. Even the not nice ones," I told him, thinking of my sister-in-law.

"Damn," Audrey laughed. "Guess I'll have to try somewhere else. But what have _you _been up to, besides causing trouble? When I heard that your bird had come in here, I went to see you but you weren't there."

"Well, I ran into my brother and, well, one thing leads to another. I ended up going home despite my earlier reservations," I admitted. "But if you're wondering why I'm here at all... We had some mechanical failures. You know me, I can't bear to let one part of my bird be broken. They weren't major, but I won't leave until my airship is back to her previous glory. Even if that means I have to storm every parts shop in the city and steal what I need."

"What do you mean?" Audrey asked me with a frown. "Steal parts?"

"Nobody's selling to me," I said with a shrug and a sigh. I'd not been thinking about that much between my worries for Lucretia and my own newly arisen problem. Now that I did, there was something that seemed off about it. A chill ran down my spine. No captain for ShinRa was ever denied _anything. _The power that ShinRa wielded was far too great for anyone to risk offending.

"This stinks of administrative mischief," Audrey said. "Someone up top wants to cause you trouble. But we won't let him do that, now will we? What do you need? I'll be sure you get it."

"Audrey...I... There's no reason for you to be getting yourself into all this. I can work out my own problems. Just because I'm getting a little trouble doesn't mean I can't use ingenuity to get myself back on top."

"I don't know," Audrey sighed. "There were blue suited Turkeys snooping about your bird when I went to see if you were there."

"Tur_keys_?" I asked. "You mean there were more than one?" Audrey shook his head.

"No, only one," he replied. "But you should still be careful. Even one Turkey is not a good sign. I don't like it, Claudie. I don't like it one bit."

"Oh, don't be such a baby," I said. "I don't mind those Turkeys so much and they don't mind me. I think I may have gotten a couple of them liking me. It's probably nothing."

"Turkeys don't _like _anyone," Audrey hissed at me. "Turkeys don't _feel_. It's almost like they're not human. Don't play with so much fire, _Thorne_." He used my last name as emphasis that he was speaking to me as a superior and not as simply a friend. "You may have pushed it too far with your blatant disloyalty to ShinRa. Don't make your crew pay for it, too."

"I won't," I promised and went to find out what was up with the Turk who was spending his time around my bird.

* * *

Author's Note: I congratulate both myself and those who have stuck with me for 29 chapters. I've got a poll on my profile that is relevant to this story, if you wish to check it out. I'd really like to see your feedback in that. I appreciate all the readers of my story and would love to hear your thoughts. That means please, _please, _PLEASE review. Suggestions are very welcome. "Thanks for the update" makes me feel guilty. This is my first author's note as you may have noticed and I will try to make them sparse (I feel they interrupt the story...not that my natural procrastination does not).

Until the next chapter,

BloodWineVampiress


	30. Conversation

The Turk was Veld. Some part in the back of my mind did not find that surprising. I couldn't tell if his business was official or not. Either way, he refused to speak until we were alone. Even once we were in my private office he had to walk around and observe the space before saying a word. He was stalling and he knew that I knew it.

"Send your crew away," he said once he'd stopped looking at the sparse decor. "I don't care what you tell them, but they must not be on this airship for a while." I started and looked at him with surprise. "What? It isn't as though you will be going anywhere for a while. Not without repairs."

I opened my mouth to respond but remembered what Audrey had said. _"This stinks of administrative mischief." _It did and it was smelling worse by the minute. I closed my mouth and sighed heavily. "How did you know about the repairs?"

Veld chuckled but did not answer me. He sat down instead. "Well, go on, then. Send your crew away." At that moment I would have given a lot to know what was going through my husband's mind, though I was almost afraid of what I might find. I hesitated but then left the office.

I told my crew what Veld had told me to tell them and begged them to simply follow the orders and not ask questions. Some jeered at me for such a request, but the more loyal ones convinced them to do as I asked though not one of us knew why they had to leave.

Once the crew was gone I returned to Veld, who had remained in my office. He did not speak to me immediately but I refused to talk first. Veld was examining my things again. I didn't doubt that he'd never seen that stuff before, I'd never allowed Veld in that area of my airship and wouldn't have then except for how professional he'd acted. I'd begun to fear that the reason for Veld's visit was official but that drifted from my mind when I saw how relaxed he'd become while I was gone. His dark blue blazer was slung haphazardly on a chair and he stood informally before a set of old pictures on the wall.

"This is Valentine, isn't it?" he asked when he heard my approach. "In the picture?"

"Oh, is it?" I said distractedly, sorting through a stack of papers that Veld had no doubt rifled through. "I wouldn't-" I turned and glanced at it. "Ah, so it is, and my brother..." I turned back to my desk and, picking up the papers, placed the entire stack in a drawer with a lock.

"You have a brother?" Veld looked at me quizzically. Up until that point our conversation had the dry tone of old acquaintances meeting again after a long time with little in common. When Veld asked that last question it was with true curiosity. His dark eyes searched my face for any indication that I was lying, but he found none because I was telling the truth.

"Yes, two," I said. I'd thought that I had told him that, but apparently not. I scratched my head and shrugged. "Haven't I told you that before?" Veld shook his head, confirming what I had imagined to be the case anyway. "That's too bad, they want to meet you, you know." I smirked but held in a laugh as Veld started.

"So, they have known about me for how long, while I didn't have a clue about them? That's not fair, Claudie," he said, running his arm around my shoulders.

"They only found out today," I said, "so you aren't far behind."

"'Today? Oh, right, this is where you grew up, I seem to remember something about that."

"You'd better," I mock threatened. "We met not far from here."

"Yes, I remember that," Veld assured me. "You were the pretty waitress with the violent sailor bodyguard."

"_That _was your first impression of me?" I laughed. "I almost feel bad..."

"For what?" Veld asked. "Surely your first impression of me couldn't have been so horrible." I smirked.

"Did you taste anything...odd about your drink?" I asked, barely holding back from laughing.

"After so many years- You put something in it, didn't you? I'm probably lucky to even be alive right now, aren't I?"

"Oh, bugger down," I said. "It was only dishwater. Harmless enough. So...will you be staying the night? I assume that's why you had me send the crew away, though you could have achieved the same effect with a lot less trouble."

"...Yes, I will be staying the night," Veld said after what appeared to be a lot of careful consideration.

"And you won't mind meeting my family while we're both here? It just seems like the best time. My father's not here, but you already know him," I said not pausing to think that my requests might not be welcome until I finished speaking. I opened my mouth to tell him that he didn't have to accept if it was a trouble to him, thinking about the nature of his work, but he placed a finger over my mouth to forbid any further speaking from me.

"I'd like nothing better than to meet your family," he said with the ghost of a sad smile flitting over his lips.


	31. Introductions

I pressed my face against the warm linen of my pillow, willing myself to go back to sleep. The last traces of a good dream lingered around the edges of my mind and I was determined to have it back. I rolled over so I could be closer to Veld and let his warm lull me out of consciousness but I found that his side of the bed was empty and, judging by the coolness of the cloth beneath me, it had been that way for a while.

I tried to tell myself that Veld hadn't left. I wanted to believe that he hadn't gone back on his word _after _I called my family to tell them I would introduce my husband to them but there wasn't even a sign that Veld had been there at all. I looked about the room, hoping that there might be some indicator that meant Veld would be back; I saw nothing.

I got out of bed with dull anger and hurt pulsing in my bones. I pushed past all my usual garb and grabbed a light spring dress. I did not wear many dresses but in my youth had been fond enough of being feminine that I still picked up a dress or two if my wallet allowed.

Once dressed, I wandered around to the bridge of my airship. There was a large window that afforded a nice view of the still well-kept airport. I liked to stare out that window in the early hours of the morning if I needed to think things through. Normally my crew left me alone then but with them sent off for whatever reason by Veld it was a moot point.

I paused on entering the bridge to see a figure silhouetted in the feeble light than came from the window. It was not yet six in the morning and the May sun had not found its way over the horizon. The only lights on were electric, and with the city being much unlike Midgar there was no equipment to light up the darkness adequately.

I let a sigh escape my lips, knowing that I had no weapon handy. The closest one would a be a pain to get and if this person wished me real harm there was nothing I could do to stop them, unless it came to hand combat. With the little out rush of air the figure started. I noted as they turned that they did not appear to be armed, though that fell out of consequentiality when he opened his mouth.

"Claudie, I thought you were still sleeping," Veld said. I could _hear _him frowning in confusion he would never have admitted. I let a smile grace my features as relief flooded my body, both for the no longer immediate danger and not upcoming awkwardness.

"No," I said, walking to join him at the window. "It's early then?" Veld nodded slowly as he took off his blazer and put it around my shoulders. When I glanced at him in question he shrugged.

"You looked cold."

We stood in companionable silence for a while, each thinking. I wondered at what the day might come to bring. I knew now that I would not be facing the embarrassment of showing up without Veld, but that did not mean that my family would accept him.

There was no close relationship in my family with my father. It had been discussed the day before and that consensus was come to. It allowed me to visit my family without fear of my father's rage, for they would back me up, but it also created mildly anti-ShinRa feelings amongst my relations who were cut off in that strange city from the rest of the world. I did not know how they would receive my Turk husband.

I was taken out of my pensive state when Veld asked if we should have breakfast. I had no idea how long we'd been standing there but it had been more than a few minutes because the first weak rays of the sun were even at that moment being overpowered by stronger light as morning crept on.

"Of course," I replied. "Breakfast sounds lovely, but unless you want to partake of sailors' fair then we should probably go find a restaurant." Veld laughed but agreed, suggesting we go to the place where we first met, if it served breakfast. I almost told him that it didn't because I didn't want to go there, but then reason took over and I decided that if there was any place to go with my Turk husband it was the place where I had worked and been a favourite, not that I expected to be remembered.

When we had finished eating it was still early but we decided to go to my old home anyway because my mother was often wont to wake up early. My judgment proved correct though it was my brother, Tommin, who opened the door rather than my mother.

His dark eyes focused on Veld. It wasn't surprising that he was measuring my husband up, but what _was _surprising was that he seemed to accept Veld instantly. He smiled broadly and motioned for the both of us to come in.

"Hello," he said directly to Veld. "I'm Tommin Thorne, Claudie's big brother. You must be her husband." Veld only nodded, apparently struck dumb by the obvious amount of energy barely restrained in my older brother. He looked at me for help but there was nothing I could do. Things were about to get very much worse as I saw the entirety of my family (minus my father) arranged in the sitting room.

"So," Janall said from her seat on the sofa next to my brother. "You have the guts to show up here again."

"I do," I answered, with an attempt to sound intimidating. I felt Veld brush up against me as he moved to a more protective stance. This pulled a thought into my head. "Oh, yes. Introductions." I directed Veld over to my mother. "This is my mother, Hannah. On the sofa is my brother, Vic and his wife Janall, along with their daughter Nella. You've already met Tommin. Everyone, this is my husband, Veld."

"Well," Vic said, the first to speak in response to my announcement. "I can't say much for her choice but it's clear he exists, Janall."

"Choice, indeed," Janall sniffed. "A Turk of all people. Really, Claudia, you couldn't have done much worse." I could feel the heat of a deep blush rising in my face until I saw the defiant look in my mother's eyes. She was about to do something unexpected.

"I like him," she stated clearly to everyone's utter surprise.


	32. And Then There Was Nothing

"Well, it certainly puts your mother to shame, now doesn't it?" I asked Veld after we'd walked a bit. We had just left my family's home because Veld said he had obligations elsewhere soon. He claimed that he didn't dare be late. "I suppose you understand another part of the reason I've always been rather vague when it comes to my family."

"They're decent enough," Veld conceded distractedly. "Though your sister-in-law is a shrew, no offense."

"None taken," I replied, relieved to know that someone agreed with me. I'd been afraid to say anything in the presence of the rest of my family because I wasn't sure how they thought about her. Now, with an ally in Veld, I was prepared to rant on the injustice of her superiority complex and whatever the hell else was wrong with her.

Just as I opened my mouth to speak I caught a strange expression on Veld's face and it made me snap my jaw back closed. I watched him for a few seconds as he stared out into the streets, obviously not seeing the same thing I was, or at least too distracted to think about what was before him clearly. I said his name softly, but he did not respond. I repeated the word with no more success than the first time. Deciding that I would have to use alternate means of getting his attention, I tugged on the dark blue sleeve of Veld's Turk uniform.

"Is something wrong, Veld?" My husband stared into my eyes with his own dark ones, appearing to search the very inner most recesses of my soul. I would have been almost frightened if I hadn't seen the gleam in his eye that indicated tears that would not spill over because of practice and pride.

"Claudie..." He took my shoulders perhaps out of fear that I might flee. To this day I'm not sure that I wouldn't have. I simply stared at him, confused and worried for the first time that day about being seen in his company. Rumours could spark out of far less than what we provided. "Do you have to go back to your airship? We could just turn around and leave this place. Go somewhere far away."

I wanted to ask him what he was talking about but that wasn't the question that I found spilling out of my mouth when I opened it. "Where would we go?"

"I don't know," Veld said, seeming to be set free by his rebellious thoughts. "Somewhere where no one would question two strangers or ask our names. Somewhere we could be free of...of..." He couldn't find the words for what he meant and so he left the sentence hanging in the air ready to be filled in with whatever I wanted it to be. I did so, but didn't like where that was heading for Veld.

"Why?"

"I...can't tell you, Claudie," Veld said pulling his eyebrows together. "Please respect that and understand that if we don't do this now our moment will be lost forever." He seemed downcast about that. I didn't think he really wanted to leave ShinRa, not when it meant so much to him, but there was something bothering him. That something was beyond what I could coax him to tell me and I knew it; I also knew that he was beginning to question his faith in the all-powerful company that had provided for him and, indeed, for myself for so many years already. I knew that in the end, if he truly diverted from ShinRa he would not be happy for long. The idea of rebellion was, for him, short and fleeting not unlike a childhood dream.

"It doesn't matter anyway," I sighed, wrenching away from Veld's grasp. "We can't run away and you know it. I don't know why you even brought it up in the first place. Veld, you have to be realistic. Now, you go back to Midgar and do your job as a Turk and I'll go back to my airship and do my job as a captain. That's how's it's gotta be."

Veld heaved a sigh far heavier than any I had heard from him yet and nodded. He stared at the ground, perhaps regaining control over the silly thoughts he'd just been entertaining. When he looked up he favoured me with a bleak smile.

"I suppose you're right, Claudie," he said. "But, please, do you have to go back to your airship _now_?" He gave me a hopeful glance and I indulged him with a smile similar to what one gives to a small child, for that was how he was acting. I'd never seen Veld act so childish in my life, though I could not help but admit that it was damned cute.

"Of course I do," I said. "Is there a problem with my airship? Aside from the already obvious mechanical malfunctions?" Veld opened his mouth, then shut it and shook his head.

"No," he said, though it seemed to be a chore for him to say it. "But, Claudie, I don't want you sleeping on that airship tonight. Please, just give me that much peace of mind. I'd much rather see you endure _that _woman than spend the night on your airship. You can gather up some important things, but I don't want you on that airship after five this evening. Do you understand?"

"Do you presume to order me around, Veld?" I retorted and my husband flinched.

"Please, Claudie," he said. "Just listen to me. Only this once. I don't care what you do afterward. I really don't, you can beat me five ways to Sunday and I won't care. Just do this one thing for me."

"Fine," I said, not really understanding why this was so important to Veld, though it obviously was. "I'll stay at my family's home for the night. Are you happy?"

"Not quite so happy as I will be next time I see you," he said with a relieved sigh.

"I was just reminded..." I said, a little reluctant and very nervous to tell Veld what I'd learned the day before. "I have something to tell you."

"Can you save it for the next time we see each other?" Veld asked, almost desperate. "I really have to go now." He leaned in and gave me a quick kiss on the forehead. "Love you."

"Yeah, I love you, too," I said numbly as he walked away at a swift clip. I wondered what had made him act so oddly, but shrugged it off and turned to go in my own direction towards my airship.

I lazily began gathering things to pack for the night at my family's house while arguing with myself as to whether it was really even worth going through with. After all, how would Veld ever know if I listened to him or not? Sure he might figure out simply because he was a Turk and finding things out was part of his job, but would he ever really be sure?

In the end I made up my mind to do as Veld asked if only because I didn't want to face him with another lie. It was bad enough saying I loved him when I really didn't. I called my mother and she was delighted to be able to spend more time with me before I left for who knew where.

I gave the place a last look before putting my satchel over my shoulder, it contained fresh clothes and the few valuables that I didn't trust leaving even on my precious airship over night. It was then that I remembered Veld's insistence that it was before five that I left. I glanced at my wrist watch. 5:01 pm. Nothing bad seemed to be happening so I took a leisurely pace towards the exit, shrugging at Veld's worry.

When I stopped at the door I heard a sound that I could never describe, perhaps it was because of all the wretched emotions that came spilling into my heart with that sound, I don't know. My muscles tensed and I thought I'd never be able to move but finally I jumped away from the airship as far as I could and threw my hands up over my head as heat followed in my wake.

After that there was nothing.


	33. Intermission

_"I don't get it," Yuffie said, frowning. "What happened?" She tried to work it on in her own head but Claudie had been rather vague. _

_"Uhm, Yuffie..." Tifa said with a mildly warning glance in the young ninja's direction. She was watching Claudie with apprehension, worried because there was a good deal of emotion apparent in the last bit of her story._

_The old woman had pushed her dark glasses up so that they rested on the top of her head while she rubbed her eyes to prevent tears. She let out a quiet laugh that sounded almost like a sob. _

_"There was a bomb planted in my airship," she said with wavering voice. "It was set to explode shortly after five that evening. Veld had been trying to save my life and the lives of my crew. I think he chose to save the latter only because he knew I'd never forgive him if I found out that he knew about the bomb and let my crew be killed."_

_"Well, at least he tried to save your life," Tifa said hopefully. "And you didn't actually die after all. That's good, right?" _

_"He was the one who set the bomb in the first place," Claudie hissed, removing her hands from her eyes to reveal dark irises, almost black. She didn't look at any of them directly, seeming rather to stare into space. _

_"How do you know?" Shelke asked._

_"I know because he told me," Claudie said, then pinched the bridge of her nose. She pulled the glasses back down over her eyes. "But, perhaps that's enough of the story for now. I'm feeling that I don't need a drink anymore and should best be heading home." She rose but so did Yuffie, who moved to block her path. _

_"You aren't finished with your story yet and the 7th Heaven isn't open yet," she said. "Besides, I still don't know why your hands look so bad." _

_Claudie sighed. "Because I threw them over my head when my airship exploded. The debris cut my hands and arms up very nicely." She moved to the side, but so did Yuffie. _

_"It _does _pass the time," Tifa allowed. _

_"Besides," Shelke agreed, "how much of your story can you have left after all that you've told us?"_

_"A good deal," Claudie sighed, returning to her seat. "And some of it pertains to the horrors that have taken place during your lifespans. However, if you wish to hear it... I cannot best three young women such as yourselves in a fight to reach the door. You've got me trapped." _


	34. Awake

When I first woke up, I wasn't entirely sure that I had awoken. Everything was dark but I could feel blankets around me and I could hear the normal noises of a house somewhere nearby. I was stiff and would have rolled over but my entire body ached so much that I didn't dare move.

"Hey, you're awake!" the voice was familiar to me but I had to search deeply in my mind to remember the name that went with it. Even when I was thinking so hard that I wondered if I could harm myself in doing so I could not recall the name.

"Yes," I said. My voice was barely audible to my own ears and so I tried again, but there wasn't much change. I swallowed to moisten my dry throat and tried a third time. This result was better.

"That's good," the voice said. It was a male voice and not unpleasant to listen to, if only I knew who it was. "Do you want me to tell mom you're awake? She probably would like to see you." He laughed as I frowned.

"Sure?" I asked. It was apparent to me that he was one of my brothers since he did not differentiate her as my mother specifically. Although... I shook my head and refused to allow myself to consider any conflicting trains of thought. My head was bad enough as it was, I didn't need to confuse myself as well.

"All right, be back in just a minute," the voice said. "Audrey, you gonna stay with her?"

"Yeah," another voice from my other side replied. Well, at least I knew who was the owner of that voice was because my brother had said his name. I turned my head in the direction that I heard Audrey's voice coming from, but it did not change my ability to see.

"Audrey?" I asked. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be working... Or at least doing something productive?" I was expecting a laugh, that was what I was aiming for, but did not receive satisfaction.

"I quit my job," Audrey said in a low voice. "I couldn't keep working for ShinRa after what they did to you. You're like the little sister I never had, Claudie."

"And you're the third brother I never had, Aude," I said, trying to keep the tone light. "That's why I think it was a mistake for you to leave ShinRa. That was your best chance of making it somewhere in the world and you just gave it up. That's not to say I'm not grateful-"

"Just shut up, Claudie," Audrey said. "You don't know what you're talking about. Now, tell me who the Turk was that visited you the day before the explosion."

"...Explosion..." I breathed sadly.

"Focus, Claudie," Audrey insisted. "Who was that Turk?"

"Why do you want to know?" I charged. Audrey was silent but I could hear him breathing. It was something I hadn't noticed immediately but it was becoming more clear. I hadn't noticed my brother leaving because I was distracted by talking to Audrey, but now I could not hear him so I assumed he was gone.

"Because that's the bastard who tried to blow you sky high!" Audrey finally exploded.

"...I don't believe you..." I whispered. I didn't want to even think about whatever implications had Veld tied up in all this because I knew that he was not completely innocent, but I did not want to give him the entire blame.

"Now, now! Young airsailor, I let you stay here because you promised not to upset my girl," an older female voice said, presumably my mother. It was odd how little I'd actually paid attention to her voice in the past. "You're going to go for a nice little walk presently and cool down. I want no more talk of Turks in this room. Is that understood?"

"Perfectly, Mrs. Thorne," Audrey said with not a small bit of petulance. I heard him scrape a chair across the wooden floor and his heavy boots as he went to the door. "I'm not far away if you want me, Claudie," he added as he paused, presumably by the door.

"I know," I told him, trying to smile.

"Now then, my dear," my mother said. "How are you feeling?" Her lighter steps wear audible as she crossed the room and I felt her weight as she sat on the edge of the bed.

"Well, enough, I suppose," I said. I tried to sit up to talk to my mother, but her firm hands pressed me down. At least, I think it was her hands because I did not hear anyone enter with her.

"No, no. Just lay down," she told me. "Is anything wrong?" I frowned and tried very hard to see through the darkness that was enveloping me.

"I...don't think I can see," I confided. "Everything's black."

"I see," my mother hmmed in her usual tone of calculation. "I didn't expect any less."

"Huh?" I asked. "You knew I was blind already?"

"Not knew, suspected," my mother corrected me. "I'm sorry, Claudie. I'm also sorry that I have to tell you that it isn't likely that you'll regain your sight."

I was dumbfounded and could feel tears stinging at eyes which would never work again. Blind meant I'd never fly again. Blind meant I could never be completely independent again. Blind meant I could never see my child grow up.

When my thoughts fell on that topic, my hand moved to my stomach. The child. Was it all right? I hoped that the explosion didn't compromise its health.

"And my chi-"

"Oh, Claudie, no," my mother said. "Please don't go there right now. You need to rest so that you can be well again. You'd be surprised how much you've slept already..." She laughed nervously.

"What's wrong with my baby?" I asked. "Is it going to be disabled?"

"No...No, not that at all," my mother said. "It's...Well, you miscarried, Claudie. I'm sorry."

I rolled over so that I could put my face in the pillow and allow the tears to come. First blind, and then not to be a mother. My life seemed to be ruined. If only I had died in that explosion as well, I thought miserably.


	35. Rehabilitation

"I don't think I can stay here much longer," I told Audrey. It had been at least two weeks since I'd woken up and that had been nearly two months after the initial explosion. I'd begun to come to terms with all that had happened and accepted the fact that everyone had to think I was dead and that included Veld.

I'd been upset about that last part at first. My first impulse was to find Veld and seek comfort from him about the death of our unborn child and the loss of my sight. When I was told that he was too close to ShinRa and therefore could never learn of my survival I pitched as great a fit as a blind, bed ridden girl could.

"Why not?" Audrey asked me. "It isn't as though you need a change in scenery."

"Well, isn't that considerate of you," I said, feeling miserable when I had been doing better.

"I'm sorry, Claudie. You know I didn't mean it in a bad way," Audrey said. "I was just-"

"I know." I sighed dully. "But my blindness only makes me want to move more. I can't change my scenery, as you called it, but I _can _change my surroundings. I can still hear, smell, and touch my surroundings as I am beginning to understand. I want to move around so I can tell the differences and become more aware of what's around me, closer to how I was when I could see."

"But you can already tell who's in the room almost instantly, isn't that as good as seeing?" Audrey asked.

"That's people," I said. "People are easy to figure out because they are loud and disruptive."

"That's not a very good view on people in general," Audrey laughed. "But I've been stalling. Your mom gave me some good news to tell you. She thinks your ready to start rehabilitating, starting with a little walking. She said across the room, but I don't that's much. So, if you're feeling up to it, once you've crossed the room, we could maybe go to the living room..."

But I didn't feel up to it. Walking was far more stressful than sitting. It was all I could do to simply collapse into the chair Audrey fetched for me. It was apparent that we were going to have to take baby steps.

It took me a while, but eventually I was spending my days on the sofa in the living room. It was nicer because there was more airflow than in my stuffy little room and more traffic. My middle brother and his family had gone, but my mother, Tommin, and Audrey remained, not to mention the occasional neighbor who came to pass the time. We were very careful about who we allowed to see me because I was technically in hiding from ShinRa, although it didn't feel much like hiding to me.

When I could stand up for more than thirty minutes at a time and walk a decent distance, my brother and Audrey alternated in bringing me for walks. I was dressed in nondescript clothing with hats and glasses and whatever else they could find to cover up my appearance. To aid in that, I began to grow my hair out. No use keeping it short if I had no more reason to.

I adored being outdoors more than I ever had in the past. Being inside for nearly four months had made me miss the gentle nuances of a light breeze and the sounds of animals more than I could begin to describe. My only lament was that I could not see it. I thought of nature and how I would never see it again but could feel or hear it. It was interesting that the unnatural things that were modern construction never came into my thoughts as something to miss. There was something dazzling about human feats, no doubt, but it was garish in comparison to the gentle nature I remembered. Nature had a healing quality, one that I needed, what man built did not.

Going for longer and longer walks in the city and outside it increased my stamina but I had lost a good deal of weight and was not nearly so strong as I had once been. My mother once remarked on this with concern, but I countered with, "What do I need strength for if I am never to be able to use it?" She had no answer for me, but still insisted that as soon as I felt up to it, I should begin running and perhaps doing other training to strengthen my muscles.

Audrey was assigned to be my helper in the pursuit of regaining my strength. He was much more gentle about it this time than he had been in the past. It might have been because before had been self-defense, this was... I didn't know what to call it rather than a waste of my time and Audrey's for he'd picked up tinkering with electronics. I did not know how good he was at his new hobby, but it sounded to me (from Tommin's comments) that he was quite proficient. I wondered if that might have been one of the talents my crewmates had been talking about all those years ago when they said Audrey should have been destined for something better than airsailing.

"I'm bored with all this," I complained frequently.

Audrey bore with it with considerable patience, despite a lack of interest on my part. One day , however, he told me that we were done with all of that monotonous jogging and weightlifting. There was something else he wanted to do, but we were going to have to go somewhere else to do it. He led me on a long walk in what seemed like circles, though it might not have been for with out my sight I was considerably hampered in telling directions.

"All right," he finally said, leading me into a large empty building. Perhaps it was an abandoned storehouse. I don't know. He led me to what I assume was the middle of the room. "We're going to find out how good your ears are, Claudie."

Over the course of the next few days we returned to that same place again and again. He would have me complete tasks using my hearing. They were mostly navigational tasks, such as finding my way out of a maze he'd created at some time that I did not know about, or merely locating him. I know I impressed him at least a little because he never had anything to correct me on.

"I think that's enough of this hide and seek," he eventually told me. "You said you were bored with merely exercising, so I'll give you a reason to do it. We'll start with hand to hand fighting because I don't want to be decapitated, but maybe we can get some of your old skills back, what do you think?"

I thought it was a very good idea, indeed.


	36. Pirates

I was re-learning to fight with a knife when I decided to break free. It wasn't really breaking free because I had to bring Audrey with me and it wasn't really a good idea, but more on that later.

I felt important again, strapping that knife onto my waist as I listened to words of warning and advice from my mother and eldest brother. They were so worried about me but for the first time since the explosion I felt like I could be on the top of the world. I was floating on self-importance because they'd actually _let _me go. It was childish, I know, but I hadn't thought they'd acquiesce.

"C'mon, Sport," Audrey had teased me, grabbing the back of my jacket and dragging me toward the airship. He'd have had to lead me to it anyway but he was trying to bring my confidence back down to a healthy level by humiliating me. It worked but it also ticked me off royally. I cursed him as only a sailor can every inch of the way to the vessel but once we reached the all important flying vehicle, I faltered.

I stood in the doorway of my worst nightmare, which blended with my sweetest dreams in a way I could only describe as grotesque. Yes, I was frightened. I wouldn't have admitted it as I stood there, literally shaking in my boots, but I was terrified out of my mind. The memories of my joys about my bird were blurred together with the thoughts of the explosion, what little of it I could remember. I'd seen photos from the news and that was more than enough to fill in the blanks.

"Aude... Audrey? You there?" I called out as one frightened of the dark and lost in a cave might. It is a more apt allusion than I can you to understand with mere words so you must trust me here.

"I'm right here, Claudie," my airsailor friend assured me with a heavy hand placed on my shoulder. The weight made it more real to me and so I could trust, if guardedly. "We don't have to go on the airship if you don't want to. There are other ways to get to Midgar you know."

"Are you kidding?" I asked, feeling more bitter than lighthearted, though that was what I aimed for. "I love flying."

"Sound more afraid of it to me." That was Tommin and I would have thrown an angry glare in his direction if I could have, but I couldn't see so I didn't bother.

"Shut it, Tommy," my mother said. I don't think she intended for me to hear but I heard more than they knew since my eyesight had been stolen. It appeared that I had to make up for the loss somehow and my other senses were willing to pick up the slack.

"So, Audrey," I said with a little more strength in my voice, much to my credit. "We going?"

"Uh-huh," Audrey replied. "This is a bit of a smaller bird than you're used to, but don' worry. You can just relax. There's nothing you can do blind, anyway. I've hired a Merc Crew to help us out on our way to the big city..."

"Merc Crew!" I nearly yelled. "You hired a Merc Crew? But- But- They're-"

"Pirates, I know," Audrey said amicably. "Don't worry. You know most of them already."

"Know?" I cried.

"Well, yeah," Audrey said, his tone sheepish. "What do you think half of ShinRa's damned air force did when they heard about what happened to you? Deserted, that's what. And where do airsailors go when they've got no work? The Merc Crews, of course. A fine lot of men."

"That means you're...?"

"Yup. An Air Merc...technically speaking, but they like to call me Cap'n..." Audrey laughed and lead me on board to introduce me to his pirate crew.

They were all kind to me, even the ones who did not know who I was. I couldn't be their captain, which was the highest level of unquestionable authority in the Air Merc system, but I could be their mascot of sorts. That was almost as important and I took the job with a measure of pride. If I could be almost as good as a captain, then I hadn't lost so much with my sight; though it was unquestionable that I had lost something.

They all seemed in awe of me and, as I learned later, they were. There had never been a woman captain like me in ShinRa's air force before. None. Now that I was blind, I thought that I'd lost all of that, but the respect still remained because I commanded it. I didn't learn about it for many years, but thinking back it does explain a lot of the Air Mercs' behaviour.

I would have enjoyed the company of those rough sailors, rough even by the standards of the air crews, much more if I hadn't known our destination. We were going to Midgar. I wanted to find Veld, despite the warnings of everyone around me. I had to let him know I was all right...for the most part, that is. I was worried, especially when Tommin, who was the first to let up, said, "Let her break her own heart. It'll be easier that way." I had a feeling they knew something I didn't and I didn't think I'd like what they knew.


	37. Disappointment

Veld hadn't waited to find out that I hadn't died. Some part of me wasn't surprised and that was the part that kept my tongue in check when I was talking with my replacement. That didn't mean that it didn't hurt, it just meant that I had the strength in me to keep going after I knew that I'd been abandoned, literally left for dead.

Audrey was perturbed by my seeming calm. He kept trying to comfort me because he thought I ought to be more upset that I acted. I brushed him off, though not without affection. I didn't want anyone's sympathy, the very thought of accepting that made me feel weak. I didn't want to feel weak because my imagined strength was all I had left.

"I want to visit Lucretia before we go home," I said when Audrey asked what we were going to do next. We'd spent a week in Midgar because Audrey didn't think it was wise to turn around a leave directly after arriving. It would raise too many suspicions, he said.

"Didn't you learn your lesson the first time?" Audrey sighed. "Do you really think it's going to be any different visiting your other friends? They all think you're dead. Maybe you should leave it at that."

"This is different," I insisted. "Lucretia's my friend, not my lover..." I stopped and thought about what her being my lover would imply, then shook my head. It was completely irrelevant. "It's not like I care who she associates herself with when I'm not around."

"Except ShinRa, of course," Audrey pointed out. "Do you know how many goons they'd send out after you if they knew you were alive. You've already been legally declared dead. That means the law can't touch you; you don't exist. If I realize what sort of things you can do with that, I'm sure ShinRa's thought up ten times as much. They won't let you live long this way. It's far easier to just kill you than... Well, they tried killing you already, what makes you think they won't try again?"

"Thank you for the lecture, Audrey," I said shortly. "But I'm a grown woman and can make decisions for myself. If you won't take me to Nibelheim to see Lucretia, I'll go by myself."

"The hell you will," Audrey grumbled. "Fine, we'll leave in the morning."

We did, but when we arrived in Nibelheim things didn't get any easier. Lucretia had begun keeping the strangest of hours the week before and no one knew exactly where to find her. She'd been going about almost as if in a dream and they weren't sure that she knew what she was doing herself.

That made it difficult to locate my scientist friend. Mentally, I cursed Vincent. I wondered what had made him slack off on his job so much as to let Lucretia wander around. It wasn't safe for her and his job was to protect her. I remembered that before Lucretia had forbidden his interference in her work, but this was to the point where I didn't think it should matter what Lucretia did or did not allow.

Audrey and I had gone looking for her and after several unsuccessful guesses reached her office. We were about to knock when we heard a gun go off. Audrey was inside the room first.

"Claudie, don't come in," he warned.

"Too late," I replied, having stepped over the threshold. "What's the matter? What was that gunshot?"

"Oh, I forgot. You can't see," Audrey said weakly. "Your, ah, scientist friend...she..." He trailed off and I heard him walk a few steps. I kept listening, hoping he'd elaborate more, but he didn't speak again.

It was about then that I smelled the blood. It overwhelmed me for a moment and I thought I would vomit. Then, recovering, I began to panic.

"What's happened here?" I asked. "Lucretia?" I felt for a wall, and finding one, I tried to cross the room.

"Stop, Claudie," Audrey said. "Just stay there. I'm going to find someone to clean this up. Promise me you won't move from that spot."

"What's happened?" I asked more forcefully.

"Claudie? Is that you?" this was a weak female voice. I couldn't actually recognize it but since we were looking for Lucretia and this woman knew my name, I suspected it was my friend. "Does this mean I died?"

"No," I told her. "I'm alive."

"Oh," Lucretia sounded disappointed.

"Amazing," Audrey breathed. "I thought for sure she was..."

"No," Lucretia replied forlornly. "This isn't the first time that I've tried, either."


	38. Troubles

"...and that is why I think I can't die," Lucretia finished. We had gone back to her house to listen to her explanation because Audrey said he couldn't stay in her office. I had a feeling it was because Lucretia didn't know how to efficiently use a gun and she'd made a mess of things.

"Sounds feasible," Audrey said slowly. He'd been trying to work large words into his vocabulary ever since we'd arrived back at Lucretia's house. I think he was smitten. I didn't blame him, Lucretia was very beautiful and had a certain charm about her that seemed to draw men like honey. The charm of being helpless, that is.

"Claudie... You're angry with me, aren't you?" Lucretia said, ignoring Audrey. I'd taken a seat in what I presumed to be the corner of the room and hadn't said a word, choosing rather to let Audrey make a fool of himself. Yes, I was angry; very angry. Lucretia wasn't _supposed_ to be trying to kill herself. She wasn't supposed to be that depressed, she had someone who would die for her, she wasn't alone the way I was. Sure, Lucretia had pretty much abandoned Vincent for that revolting scientist, Hojo, but I doubted he'd give up that easily. Well... I couldn't be sure, but I certainly hoped that he wouldn't. Which brought me to a question.

"Where's Vincent?" I asked.

"Claudie," Lucretia said, it was almost a whine. "Please, don't-"

"What's happened? Something has. You should have known I'd notice," I said. "Vincent's a Turk, even if he didn't love you, it's still his assignment to protect you. He can't have just dropped of the face of the Planet."

Lucretia attempted a laugh but only brought herself to tears. It was some time before she could speak clearly again.

"I-I didn't know that Hojo... I mean why should I have suspected-? It just-it just _happened _and then I-I couldn't stop it after that. Well, I-I-I-" She burst into a fresh round of wailing. I needed answers and I wasn't going to get them from Lucretia just then. She was a mess. I remembered how useless she'd been after Grimoire died, I figured it couldn't be much different if something bad had happened to Vincent, which it obviously had.

"Lu, you need a nap," I said, feeling extremely tired myself. "Please go take one. It will be a great aid to all of us if you do. You're tired, upset, not thinking straight. You need to rest and look at things in a new light. It might help." Lucretia made a noise somewhat like a contemptuous snort. It was the first time I'd heard her make that sort of sound and it took me aback.

"You think I didn't try that?" she asked helplessly.

"Try again," I said. "What can it hurt?" I heard the rustle of clothing and I assumed Lucretia was standing.

"You trust me not to-" she broke off not actually wanting to say it.

"Of course," I said. "You wouldn't want to break my heart that way." I got no response to that but after a couple of seconds I heard her footsteps leaving the room.

"Oh, what a mess," I sighed when I felt reasonably sure Lucretia had gone.

"You don't need to tell that to _me_," Audrey said. "What a poor girl..."

"Lucretia has a bit of a penchant for the dramatic," I said. "If we can sift that out we'll get a pretty good idea of what happened. But... Why does everything need to go up in flames right _now_?" I rubbed at my eyes and yawned.

"You're tired, too," Audrey said. "Perhaps you should take your own advice and go have a nap. I'll go snoop around and see what I can find out about that Vincent Turk..." I knew what that meant, coming from Audrey. To him it was like he was saying that a Turk had the capacity for good which was like blasphemy in his mind. He really was smitten with Lucretia if he wanted to help me try to help her that badly.

"All right, Aude," I said with a yawn that was not fake despite its timing. "Thank you. I think I'll take your advice and take my advice..." I laughed weakly, feeling like I didn't much want to laugh.


	39. I'm Sorry

I stretched and rolled over feeling that warm contentment that I always felt after a restful sleep. Audrey had been right in sending me to take a nap. I pulled the blankets closer over me and prepared to fall back asleep now realizing how much I'd been depriving myself of sleep since I left home.

"Hey, Sleeping Beauty, you're awake," Audrey teased and I sat up so fast I thought I was going to fall off the bed. I came dangerously close, feeling my body begin to slide, but I scrambled back to the middle of the bed with the help of Audrey's strong hand.

"Thanks," I mumbled. "What did you find out about Vincent?"

"Nothing," Audrey said. "Absolutely nothing. It's like the guy never existed. Either he's dead or...Well, my opinion is that he's dead, but don't take it from me. Whatever happened, he's not here and hasn't been for a while."

"I...I see," I said slowly, trying to take it all in. Something had happened to Vincent, something bad, and no one wanted to talk about it. It made me unbearably curious but Audrey's opinion that Vincent was dead made my chest tight. Somewhere in me, I knew he was right but I was determined to get Lucretia's side of the story, too, even if I had to beat it out of her.

"What's the matter, Claudie?" Audrey asked. "You've gone completely white. Are you all right? Don't trust my opinion if it upsets you that much. You know I'm hardly not biased."

"Yeah, I know," I croaked. "We have to talk to Lucretia."

"I'm here, Rosie," Lucretia said. It sounded as if she was at the door but that could be my imagination. "I wanted to hear what your friend had to say... I, uh, listened in when he said he was going to try to find out about Vincent. I wanted to hear what he found."

"Was he right, Lu?" I asked. "Is Vincent-?" I couldn't complete the sentence. Things were really messed up. It was like a television drama or something. Not fit for real life but really happening. If I'd grasped the complete horror of it all back then, I would have been sick. As it is, even now it makes my stomach weak.

"Oh, Rose," she said weakly. "He was only trying to help me." That was not an answer and yet it was more than enough of an answer as well. "I should have listened. Why didn't I listen?"

"I don't know, Lu," I sighed. I knew she'd turn on me next. I could already hear her voice rising as she accused me of telling her to leave Vincent which lead her to be manipulated by Hojo. I could argue the point, but I wouldn't. I didn't feel strong enough to argue. I'd take her hate, I probably deserved it anyway.

"Because I was stubborn, that's why," Lucretia moaned hopelessly. "I was stupid. But Vincent was...He was too good. Any other man would have given it up for lost when..."

"Hey!" I said. "You can't blame Vincent for caring!" I was trying to direct her anger at me, realizing briefly that I wanted it. I _wanted _to be blamed because then it wasn't out of my hands. I could regret for my entire life but I could go back to a certain point and say, "Yes, this is where I messed up. This is where I made the decision that killed Vincent."

"You're right," Lucretia conceded. "It's my fault for not listening."

"No," Audrey argued. "You can't kill someone simply by not listening to them. Where's this Vincent guy's guilt in all this?"

"Shut up, Audrey," I said. "You don't know anything."

"I never thought I'd see the day but, Claudia Thorne, you're crazy," Audrey said. "And you, Miss, ah, Lucretia? You're being lead down the wrong road by listening to Claudie. She wants you to bear all the guilt for this and I don't know why, but it's not your fault."

"You're wrong!" I said, feeling tears at the backs of my eyes. "You don't understand, Audrey! You don't!" I didn't want Lucretia to have any more guilt in the matter than Vincent did, it was myself I wanted to punish. I got up and put on my jacket. I'd slept in my clothes so I didn't need to dress. "I'm going for a walk and don't either one of you dare follow me."

"But, Claudie, you can't see," Audrey said.

"I'm crazy, remember? Now, just let me alone!"

I stormed out of the building and wandered around blindly, quite literally, for a long time. I found my way to a field with a tree. I only noticed one tree because I sat under it; there could have been more. It's no doubt gone now, but it was a quiet place to think about everything. There was a nice little breeze that wafted the scent of flowers that must have been among the grass around and made me think of the park at home which I hadn't visited in years. Had it really been ten years? Very nearly.

As I searched my thoughts I realized that I hadn't been hurt at all by Veld's betrayal, not really... Not compared to how much I'd been hurt by Vincent's death. Of course, Veld was still alive and out there somewhere, but what was the real difference if I'd never see him again? He might not be dead to me but I was to him.

There was also the fact that I'd never deluded myself into believing I was in love with Veld. Oh, there were times when I came very close to admitting love for Veld, but I never did. I'd not been so careful around Vincent. I'd been younger, but I'd had my entire future committed to being with Vincent. I'd given that up a long time ago, though... Or had I?

The more I thought about it the more it made sense to think that I'd never really stopped loving Vincent and the more I cursed myself for such folly. But shouldn't I have known that I was still in love? Not if I kept denying it. It made sense, but if I'd thought I had eradicated my old feelings and hadn't... How would I this time? There was no question that I had to. Soon, too. I would leave the mourning to Lucretia. She quite obviously had feelings for Vincent, even if she wouldn't admit it to herself.

I stopped. Was that how I'd been? I wanted to knock my head against the tree at my back. If it had been that obvious... I screamed at the top of my lungs, it was a sound of pain and humiliation, a sound for all that I'd experienced in the past year.

"I thought I'd find you here." It was Lucretia's voice. She seemed reasonably calm compared to how I felt.

"Huh?" I asked, not even bothering to wipe away the tears I'd only just noticed were flowing freely down my face. "Why?"

"Oh, I don't know," she said. "Vincent liked to come here."

"He did?" I asked. "I didn't-"

"I know," Lucretia said. "But I can see why he liked it here so much, now that I can stop to notice nature more... It wasn't because of Vincent that I tried to...to kill myself."

"Huh?" I asked.

"I didn't want to die because of what happened to Vincent," Lucretia repeated. "That would be like a slap in the face to his efforts. I wanted to end it all because Hojo took my baby."

"What?" I asked.

"I never even saw him," she said. Her voice trembled.

"I'm sorry," I said.

"I know," Lucretia replied.

"No. No, you don't," I said. "I'm sorry for _everything_, even the things you don't realize I did."


	40. Seeming

It was a mistake to leave my home in search of Veld. I think I mentioned that before, but I'll say it again. It was a mistake, the most grievous of my life.

Somehow, ShinRa had heard a rumour that I had not died. Perhaps a little _birdie_ told them feeling provoked by his renewed loyalty to the company. I don't know. Whatever the cause, they decided they were better safe than sorry and they firebombed the city. It was the same technique in Kalm some years later, but then again, they covered that up so well I'm not sure you even heard about it.

If I'd been there, I could have helped. I know I could have. Audrey was of the opinion that my presence would only have made things worse; there was nothing that could have been done for the people of the city without proper warning.

Despite the odds, there were very few deaths. Most people found shelter in the underground tunnels my mother knew about for some reason I never learned. For once I was thankful for the chatty nature of old women. There had been a phone web that spread the news relatively quickly once ShinRa's plans had become evident. There had been danger in reaching the tunnels and deaths had ensued that way.

I don't know what the total death toll but the damage to the city itself had been drastic. Lucretia, who had decided to come with us because she had nothing left anywhere else, was horrified. Her immediate decision was that we could not leave until the city was rebuilt, at least a little. That was troublesome because most of the people decided to flee. If it was apparent that the place was still inhabited there would be no end to ShinRa's attempts and the tunnels would soon be discovered and destroyed.

It was only hours before the initial strike that Audrey's airship had landed at a nearby airport to refuel quickly before arriving home. We caught news that there was to be no air travel and made up our minds to make the rest of the journey by land, leaving one of Audrey's crew in charge. The would not double cross a man like him. Of course, we didn't make it to the city in time by land.

There was still the later sweep to be made, collecting the lives of the survivors, when we arrived surreptitiously by a little known entrance. They wouldn't have suspected so many had lived. The three of us took charge of the disorganized towns people. There would be no positive result if anyone was caught in that wave of infantrymen. If someone was caught, it would be over. They would find the tunnels and all of us. It was my fault that this was the situation (if I had been more loyal to ShinRa they wouldn't have found the need to eliminate me, thus alleviating the entire problem) and I would not allow it to take the lives of these innocents. Enough had been lost already.

When ShinRa had left the city to moulder in its abandonment we emerged to assess the damage. There was little left whole and less worth living in. We had a lot of work to do, but first anyone who no longer wished to live in the decimated city escaped. They would change their names and lie about their origins. The city would, in effect, cease to exist. Thirty years later, no one knows that it ever was. ShinRa doesn't want to show the shame of an entire city lost because of one possible life not ended.

Slowly, we began to rebuild. There were funerals for those killed in the strike. My brother Tommin's was among them. My mother resorted to reading and working on her sciences after that. Sometimes she spent time with Lucretia but the two, though possibly compatible in the past, could not agree on a thing. Lucretia wanted to abandon all science in light of her loss, my mother wanted to bury herself in it. This lead them to eventually take their own paths and meet very seldom.

Lucretia took to watching Audrey and I spar in our off time when us women weren't helping to injured and sick and the able-bodied men weren't reconstructing the city. I would have helped with the building but for my blindness. I could be of no use if I didn't know where I was going with the materials. Soon, we all had our routines. I carried messages around as often as I could, hating the scent of the sick and the weakness inherent in the wounded. I used the tunnels because sight was useless there anyway. I found that the network spread out under the entire city and came up with my own route as I learned where places were. Audrey took charge of all the building, he had a knack for leading when he wasn't tinkering with electronics and sparring. Lucretia was not a medical doctor, but her research in biology and the knowledge needed for the experiments she conducted made her as suitable a physician as any and she was eventually convinced to take care of the medical department. She took on students who had basic medical training because she never failed to make it abundantly clear that this was a temporary solution for her.

One day Audrey presented me with a very special gift. It was this pair of glasses. Yes, the very ones I am wearing right now. I won't demonstrate how they are special, but I _will _tell you what they've done for me. These glasses have returned my sight to me, in a manner. I can't really _see _like you can but I can tell the difference between light and shadow, if vaguely. They're mostly good for movement. This helps with fighting and avoiding the awkwardness of running into people.

Perhaps you are wondering how a simple pair of glasses could do that for me. I will only say that I had to submit myself to the knife in order to do it. I wouldn't suggest this for anyone who has a chance at regaining their sight. It's dangerous and a mite bit painful. I trusted Lucretia, though, and she did not fail me in making me capable of utilizing this pair of glasses.

It changed my life. I had to learn how to discern the nuances of this new sight but, once I had, there was an unlimited amount of new capabilities for me. I could fight with blades longer than short knives. (However, I would never pick up a gun again. No matter what Audrey asserted, I did not trust my aim.) I could make my way around the city on my own outside of the tunnels. I could be useful in my own proverbial eyes.

Things seemed to be looking up for the first time in more time than I cared to recall. Of course that was the key, _seemed. _It was only an illusion.


	41. Of Epiphanies

"I don't think I can stay here much longer." It was the same sentiment I had expressed so many months ago but this time it was not I who spoke. Lucretia had been going about her daily routine with less and less gusto. She didn't seem to be taking much of an interest in anything, despite her previous joy in her ability to help others. Audrey had noted her declining condition long before I did and had expressed concern.

"Why?" I asked. "Don't you have a life here, now, Lu? Don't you see that you are needed? That you are cared about?"

"I know, you all care very much," Lucretia said. "It's just... Someone like me. I don't think you know what you're getting. Sure, I know a little medicine. So does Hojo." She had a point but it wasn't as strong as she seemed to think it was.

"_I _know," I told her. "I know about what happened to Grimoire and Vincent."

"Hm, do you?" Lucretia asked. Her demeanor had been becoming darker and more pensive by the day. This was a sentiment I would have expected myself to utter in sarcastic doubt. It wasn't what I thought I'd ever hear Lucretia utter.

"I do," I asserted. "Audrey knows as well. Maybe not as much as I do, maybe he wasn't so closely attached... But he cares about you now. You're far more dear to him than I'd bet you think. What would it do to him if you suddenly vanished?"

"Your friend, Audrey... He's a fool," Lucretia scoffed, on the verge of tears. I could hear the desperation in her voice. It was as though she were begging me to save her from a sinking ship while arguing why I should let her drown. I didn't know how to respond. I wanted to save her but she wouldn't let me. Every time I reached out to her she bit me.

My mother's health wasn't much better, however. My brother's death had taken a greater toll than any of us could have guess. We rarely saw her anymore and I found myself missing her despite the fact that she was never far. I was almost more concerned about her than about Lucretia because she was old and not as strong. Everytime I went to check up on her I expected to find her on the verge of suicide. She didn't kill herself though, not directly at least. She merely wore herself out until her body couldn't take anymore and returned her to the Lifestream. I saw her go.

She was at her desk, slouched over, as if having fallen asleep there. I was prepared for that with a blanket and as I set it around her shoulders her mass vanished. I didn't see the sparks of light that they always say accompanies a person's return to the Lifestream, but I did see spots across the view given by my glasses. Perhaps that was it.

As I mourned the loss of my mother Lucretia asserted that it was time for her to go. I slapped her. The subject was not brought up again until a short period of time before her son's first birthday. The conversation went much the way it always did. It ended up heated, however, and perhaps that was the difference.

"What do you want me to do about it!" I screamed.

"I don't know!" Lucretia wailed back.

"I can't jut let you go, you're the city's best doctor. Besides, where the hell would you go? Huh? You don't even know. You can't die. Just stay here and help us, become Audrey's-"

Something hit my face. A pillow from the sofa.

"No! I can't do that!" Lucretia broke down into loud sobs. "I can't do that... I can't do that... I can't do that."

"I'm sorry, Lu," I said.

"You keep saying that, but you don't mean it," she hissed.

"There's nothing we can do. What's passed is past. What do you expect when you leave here? That everything will be sunshine and roses? Honestly, Lu, use your head; you've got a good one."

"Will you come with me to the Crystal Cave, at least?" Lucretia asked me. "I always think better there. Maybe I'll have an epiphany."

"Maybe _I _will," I muttered sardonically.


	42. Ghosts

"Do you still want to die?" I asked Lucretia. "Surely not here..." We were sitting in the Crystal Cave. There was a sense of peace and a sense of disruption. Peaceful disruption...Huh. Everything was different there, for me at least. Perhaps it was my blindness that opened me up the the strange properties of the place because Lucretia seemed largely unaffected.

"This is where..." Lucretia trailed off. "It seems fitting..."

"Fitting," I repeated and heard the word echo, though the cave wasn't large enough for a real echo. It mixed with voices that weren't there. My imagination? Maybe. There was one phrase repeated sickeningly over and over by a single dark voice until it was joined by a higher, lighter one; Lucretia's. _My sin..._

Those words didn't fit Lucretia. _My sin..._ She was a woman of science and reason not matter what she might like us all to believe. I could believe phrases like, "My mistake," or "My failure," but not - _My sin..._

"Do you hear that?" I asked Lucretia out of curiosity. Could she really not be hearing what I was?

"What?" she asked.

"Someone just said, 'My sin'," I told her. "And there again. Oh! Did you hear that?"

"No," she told me.

"Someone just said, 'I'm sorry'," I replied.

"Who?" Lucretia asked, her own curiosity piqued despite her despair.

"It-it was a male voice, quite deep..." I said, not wanting to admit that the voice was sickeningly familiar. Perhaps the voices came from the Lifestream, it did seem to be closer in the cave. But then... "Did you say 'I'm so sorry', Lu?"

"No," Lucretia answered me. "I asked who was speaking, that's all."

"Hm," I said. "Well...it appears that yours is one of the voices...Unless... Do you know anyone with a voice exactly like yours?"

"No," Lucretia told me.

"Then you're one of the voices, then there is that male voice, that's all I hear today," I said. "Yesterday I heard different voices but I couldn't understand them so I didn't say anything. Probably speaking a dead language. I'd say the voices came from the Lifestream but _you're_ not in the Lifestream."

"Maybe spirits in the Lifestream can travel through time," Lucretia said hopefully. If it was so it would confirm her death, no matter the date. She was currently under the impression that she couldn't die, but if she was wrong... I didn't want to lose her, but I didn't want her to continue on in pain either. We were all in our own sort of pain and if we could keep going, then great, but if not...

"Maybe," I said, catching a hint of a third voice. It wasn't clear so I didn't hear what it was saying, though it had to be saying something because there were words. I determined that I would come back on my own after we had returned to town and Lucretia had gone to bed. We'd made the trip to the Crystal Cave enough times in the past week that I felt- confident wasn't the word I'd use but it was close.

When I returned that night alone the sense of displacement was greater. There was definitely something strange about this place. Unnatural, or rather so natural that we long forgot about the true potency of the world. I don't know which it was.

"Hello?" I asked hardly daring to believe that the voices might respond. They didn't, the ones expressing apologies and regret for sins didn't stop or change but-

_Hello..._ The voice would have sounded like an echo of my own except for the fact that it wasn't my voice that repeated the word.

"Who are you?" I asked, expecting it to repeat my question in the different voice.

_Now that's the question, isn't it...?_ The voice seemed to laugh as I nearly jumped out of my skin.

"Are you a friend?" I had sense this time not to expect a simple repeat of my phrase.

_Suffice to say it, yes..._ The voice chuckled.

"Well, that's good," I said catching onto the chuckle and smiling myself. "Wouldn't want to be consorting with the enemy, now would I? Of course... You could be lying."

_And you might not be blind..._ The voice answered, apparently irritated by my lack of trust.

"Okay," I said, losing confidence. "Point taken. What do you want to tell me, because you must, or you'd just ignore me like the other voices."

_The other voices can't hear you..._ The voice told me. _They are parts of the past and future connected to here by the Lifestream... _

"So, you hold belief in the Lifestream?" I asked. The voice chuckled in response. "Come on, tell me." I wanted real answers.

_I do because I am a part of the Lifestream..._

"You're a... You're dead aren't you?" I said. "Do you know why only I can hear the voices?"

_The others don't listen..._

"No, I told Lucretia about the voices and she tried to hear them but she couldn't," I said.

_Mm, not really..._

"You mean she could?" I asked, incredulous.

_If she chose..._ There was a pause. _Poor girl... _

"Yes," I agreed. "Lu's in a bad spot right now. Could you tell me how to help her? I mean if you're dead you've got to have some sort of information, don't you? That's one of the perks."

_Claudia Thorne, you never cease to amaze..._ The voice said. _Yes, I wish to help you aid your friend..._

"Wait. How do you know my name? Lu always calls me Rosie," I said.

_I knew you before I died..._

"You knew-? You knew me? Vincent?" I asked, trying to think of who the voice reminded me of and who might know my name as well as want to help Lucretia, not to mention the qualification of being dead.

_Close..._

"Who...?" Then a thought came to me. "Dr. Valentine?"

_Yes..._ The voice of Vincent's father replied. _And __I_ _can tell you how to he__lp Lucretia..._

"Tell me!" I cried.

_You won't like it..._ The ghost warned.

"I don't care," I said. "I just want what's best for Lu after all I've done to mess up her life."

So the ghost of Grimoire instructed me on how best to remove the impediment that was created, no doubt, by the presence of Jenova's cells in Lucretia's body. I didn't know what Jenova was then, but Grimoire Valentine was patient with me and told me all that he had learned during his time in the Lifestream.

"But how will it affect her son?" I asked in horror.

_Only time will tell... _Indeed, only time would tell, but in the meantime I had to help Lucretia get away from her pain.


	43. Gone

Lucretia was nervous, understandably, but adamant. Whatever this ghost (I hadn't told her whose ghost it was) said couldn't be false because why would a ghost have interest in misleading them on a mission of, let's face it, suicide? I had my own reasons for believing what Grimoire had told me.

"You don't have to do this," I reminded her as we prepared for the step that would lead us to the point of no return. "We could turn around right now and go home. I'm sure Audrey would be forever grateful."

"No," Lucretia replied. "It's over for me Claudie. No more second chances."

"Not if you don't choose to take them," I snapped, bitter that my friend was ending her life even if it was a mercy in the end. We didn't quite know the outcome of the... I hesitate to use the word "spell" but that was much like what it was. The old archaic magic that came before our use of materia and mako. Whether or not that magic was real, the process made me think of it.

"I can't, Rosie," Lucretia cried. "You should know that more than anything! Remember what I was worried about before? Well, now I'm certain. I can't restrain myself. People have already been hurt."

"I don't remember, Lu," I said, struggling to recall what it was that she'd said at some point in the past. There was a lot to sift through; Lucretia was rarely at a loss for words.

"Maybe it's better that you don't," Lucretia sighed. "I'm ready now, Rose. Just finish this. Let me go."

I finished the incantation and there was a loud noise followed by deathly silence. I waited for some sound, something. I only heard the amplified voices of other times.

"Lu?" I asked.

_S__he can't hear you..._That was Grimoire's voice.

"What do you mean she can't hear me?" I asked.

_It worked..._ Grimoire explained. _Lucretia is gone from this world..._

"Gone..." I repeated.

_As much a she can be..._


	44. The End

_Claudie Thorne stood and stretched. All three of her listeners also stood. Their eyes were turned to her in expectation but she could not see the look so it had no affect on her. She turned towards the bar and tilted her head to the side._

_"I've been a bother, Miss Lockhart," she said in a tone that was anti-climatic compared to the tale she'd just spun. "I apologize. I may not be much use but if I could-"_

_"What bother?" Tifa asked. "I didn't mind listening to your story." _

_"Yeah," Yuffie piped up. "We've never learned so much about V-" At a glance from Shelke her energy seemed to fail and her sentence took a different direction. "You can't leave now. You're story's not done."_

_"Oh, but it is," Claudie replied with a sad shake of her head. "This is the point where, if my story had any significance at all, it fades into obscurity. Anything I could tell you could be told far better in the stories of those who were important in those days. Or, perhaps, in the stories of those who saw the lives of the important. I kept my hand out of that pot. The only reason I didn't stop after the-" She cut herself off. "Well, I didn't stop then because I hadn't cleaned up my mess. After I ended Lucretia's sufferings, or lessened them as much as I could there was nothing left I could do. It wasn't as though I could single-handedly take on ShinRa to get Sephiroth and raise him properly. Who's to say if that would have changed the out come of any of this anyway?"_

_"It doesn't change the present," Shelke said._

_"Precisely," Claudie agreed enthusiastically. "But I still would like to thank those who faced Sephiroth for having the strength that I didn't - to kill him when he was a threat to the Planet." _

_"Consider them thanked!" Yuffie said before anyone could stop her._

_"Huh?" Claudie asked, thoroughly confused. _

_"We're - Yuffie and I were - part of that group," Tifa said mildly. "We could send word to the others..." She wasn't actually sure that dragging up that old topic just to relay the thanks of an old woman was a good idea but a little white lie to put Claudie's mind at rest couldn't hurt. _

_"Thank you," Claudie said sounding quite reverent. "...For thanking them, I mean." She laughed quietly and that seemed the cue for Yuffie to join in with a much louder more light-hearted laugh. Before long all four of them were laughing freely. It felt right after such pent up feeling in the story that was now finished. _

_"My offer still stands," Claudie said when the laughter was over. "I really want to help out. You can put me on the most useless, out of the way task, I don't care. It would make me feel better to do this as payment for your time. I do feel that I've wasted it." _

_"No! You haven't," Yuffie insisted. "Besides I still wanna know how you got here if the last thing you did was put Lucretia outta her misery." _

_"I traveled a lot," Claudie said. "Perhaps more than I should have. I never stayed in the same place for more than a month or two. It kept my mind off things if I didn't know where I might be the next week over. I learned how to get on quite well by myself. I did go back to my old home once or twice. Just long enough to see Veld and his daughter settled there after he left ShinRa."_

_"So...you didn't get back together with him?" Yuffie asked. Claudie shook her head and made an amused sound._

_"No, there never was going to be a second part to mine and Veld's relationship. We'd become too different for anything to last. I still couldn't settle down, even more so with what weighed on my mind, and Veld...he'd given up everything so he _could _settle down and make up for lost time with his daughter. It didn't help that I didn't really love him to begin with. He was just a - a place holder. Perhaps that was all I was ever meant to have; a place holder. Oh, but I'm getting all emotional on you and my story's done."_

_"Well," Tifa said, musing. "I could maybe think up something to for you to do, but tonight's probably not going to be very busy. Come back on Friday or something, I might have a job for you to do if you still insist on paying me back." _

_"Thank you," Claudie said, sounding truly grateful. "I'll return then, but perhaps I should be going home if you don't have anything for me to do right now." She made her shuffling way to the door, tailed by Yuffie who had her arms out in case the woman fell over._

_Claudie pulled her gloves back onto her scarred hands. "Well, goodbye all." She opened the door and ran into someone entering the establishment. "Oh...excuse me." She bowed her head and forged her way out onto the streets of Edge._

_Vincent Valentine, however, met the astonished faces of the three women within the bar with a frown._

_"Is Cloud here?"_

_Yuffie 's jaw dropped. "Vincent, you- you-" she stammered._

_Tifa shook her head with a sad smile. "You have the most_ unfortunate _timing, Vincent..." She exchanged knowing looks with the other two who also understood the underlying meaning to what she said. "He is not."_

* * *

Author's Note: This is the end for my beloved story, _The Raven's Tale. _It's a kind of bittersweet ending, but this it what I consider "Happy" for all of you who voted for the positive ending. I'm loathe to completely forget my sweet little Claudie and her other original friends, so I might come up with a couple of oneshots. If you've got any ideas for prompts related to this story or not that you'd like me to consider, send me a private message and I'll gladly write something up because I do so adore FFVII. I'm also proud that this is only my second author's note and it's the last. Haha. I'll miss writing this story but all good things must end.

My best regards,

BloodWineVampiress


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